By The Daily Caller (U.S.) | Created at 2026-09-14 19:31:51 | Updated at 2026-09-25 03:34:40
1 week ago
The Iran War was locked in a stalemate for months until an Iran-aligned rebel group stormed through Yemen, opening up another front in the conflict and threatening an important chokepoint for global shipping. This latest development also shows the limits of President Trump’s strategy in the Middle East and how his attempt to shift the balance of power in the region has backfired.
In 36 hours, Ansar Allah — known as the Houthis — launched a lightning blitz earlier in September and seized approximately 2,000 square kilometers of territory. This territory included much of Yemen’s coast facing a critical oil and trade route, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the port city of Mokha, and Perim Island. The Houthis also shut down a major Saudi oil pipeline, the East-West Pipeline, in a drone attack. (RELATED: Saudi Arabia’s Oil Lifeline Just Went Down. The World May Be Running Out Of Time)
Even though, since the start of the Iran War, analysts have warned the Houthis could escalate and widen the conflict by capturing strategic islands in the Southern Red Sea and effectively closing the Bab el-Mandeb, thus putting more pressure on global oil markets, Saudi Arabia appears to have been caught flat-footed. It also appears that officials in Washington and Riyadh made the problem worse through a lack of coordination and preparedness.
A senior Yemeni source told CNN that the Houthis “committed everything they had — waves upon waves of fighters … along with their available ballistic missiles and weapons,” but that the Yemenis had been assured that United States Central Command (CENTCOM) was “watching the situation closely and that Saudi air support was coming.”
“But the air support never came,” the source said. “And Mokha has now fallen.”
Another regional source told the outlet that the failure to stop the Houthis’ advances cannot be laid at the feet of the Yemeni government. Rather, Americans and Saudis are to blame.
“It’s a disaster made in [Washington] DC and Riyadh,” the source said. “There was not one airstrike throughout the day yesterday [by Saudi support forces], although there were minute-by-minute updates. It’s a Saudi-American fuck up of epic proportions.”
Mohammed al-Basha, who previously advised the U.S. government and private companies on Arabian Peninsula affairs, told CNN that the Yemeni government also responded haphazardly and deserves some of the blame, too.
“I think everybody was aware of the Houthis’ push towards the west coast. The writings on the wall were very clear,” he added. “There’s no united command and control in Yemen.”
Before the Houthi advance, Mohammed Bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, called President Trump on Sept. 10 and requested that the U.S. military launch new strikes against the rebel group, according to Axios. But Trump refused, with U.S. officials saying that the administration does not intend to do so “at this time.” (RELATED: Here’s How Trump’s Houthi Headache Could Turn Into Full Blown Migraine)
That being said, the U.S. is not totally abandoning the Saudis. Instead of launching direct strikes, the U.S. is still feeding Riyadh intelligence and targeting data, and has deployed roughly 200 military advisers to the kingdom. Admiral Bradley Cooper, the head of CENTCOM, also flew to Saudi Arabia before the Houthi attacks.
“The United States is focused on protecting our core national security interests — such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea — while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges,” a senior administration official said.
Under Trump’s second term, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia remained close strategic partners, with a major defense pact, investment pledges, and intelligence sharing. In 2025, Trump formally elevated the Saudis to major non-NATO ally status, paving the way for easier weapons transfers and more defense cooperation. The goal has always been to elevate the Saudis from a regional player into a bigger power that could control the Middle East and allow the U.S. to disengage from the region and pivot to Asia and the threat of China.
With the Houthis’ latest advance, Riyadh’s expectation that the U.S. would intervene to bail them out militarily has broken down, and America’s “security guarantees” are no longer so reliable. And even with the new investment pledges and weapons transfers, which included the sale of American F-35s, the Saudis still cannot handle the Houthis on their own.
Although the Trump administration is for now refraining from launching direct strikes on the Houthis once again (in 2025, they bombed the Houthis but were forced to capitulate), if the Houthis close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, it will have a major effect on Saudi oil exports, and therefore global oil and gas prices. American ships do not need to be attacked by the Houthis for Washington to feel the pressure to intervene before the midterm elections.
Perhaps another front in the Iran War is closer than we all think. And perhaps Trump’s strategy of rebalancing power in the Middle East is having the opposite result: a crippled and impotent Saudi Arabia, brought to its knees by a rebel group.
