Journalist and researcher Hossam Radman said on his Facebook page that the Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, which culminated at the end of January with the burning of a British oil ship, reveal an upward curve in Iranian destabilizing behavior in the region.

Radman explained in his analysis of the events on his Facebook page, followed by the Scoop24 ​​news editor: that the Houthi attacks began last November with the hijacking of the Israeli “Galaxy Leader” ship, then developed into bombing international ships indiscriminately, then targeting Western military assets, and finally Sinking of a British oil ship.

Radman added that these attacks indicate that Iran has become more reckless in using the Houthis as a tool to expand the conflict in the region, even though it remains afraid of entering into a direct confrontation with the United States.

He explained that Iran was keen to ignite Yemen as an active arena for the maritime confrontation, while it was content to view Gaza as the main arena for the field conflict while providing verbal and symbolic support. It was also keen, as much as possible, to reduce the burden of conflict on the geography of its Shiite crescent in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, to avoid targeting its valuable strategic assets there.

On the other hand, the Houthis took the initiative with great enthusiasm to prove their effectiveness as an Iranian tool to spread chaos in the region. The group benefited from this momentum to strengthen its regional role, even within the “resistance” axis itself.

Radman explained that the Houthis’ boom is not due to their strategic sophistication or their superior military capabilities, but rather it is a boom created by the geopolitical balance of supply and demand: that is, the decline in the Houthis’ political value to the Iranian decision-maker, in parallel with the growing importance of the Yemeni geography that they control.< /p>

Therefore, Tehran does not hesitate to push them into high-risk geopolitical gambles, and encourage them to take the conflict to the brink of the abyss. In contrast to its advice to Hezbollah, which continued to dialogue with the American envoy to Lebanon to think about how to contain the conflict, reduce the escalation, and implement UN Resolution 1701.

In the end, Houthi activities - at least so far - have not contributed to a strategic influence on the course of events in Gaza, and have been nothing more than a symbolic act of solidarity (which can be considered an opportunistic act rather than a heroic effort).

However, the Houthi movements have proven to be unprecedentedly effective in achieving the Iranian doctrine of deterrence, which always aims to push the conflict fronts beyond their immediate borders and into neighboring Arab countries, which is literally what is happening today with the confrontation shifting from the Arabian Gulf to the Red Sea.