The Houthi rebels of Yemen have maintained a steady tempo of attacks, despite countless efforts at striking their shore side operations, according to a top U.S. navy leader.
Vice Adm. George Wikoff, 5th U.S. Fleet Commander said “The Houthi rebels resilience stems from continued support from their Iranian sponsors, their own in-house abilities, and - in an emerging development - a new diversity of suppliers”.
Wikoff suggested that the Houthis' supply chain has relied on Iran since the beginning of the group's militancy, and over the years, U.S. and allied forces have intercepted multiple Iranian weapons shipments bound for Yemen on the high seas.
"There is a line of effort right now looking at all supply [lines] coming in to the Houthis, and we don't believe it's limited to the Iranians," said Wikoff in a video interview with Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) adding ,"The Houthis are diversifying. There's discussion that they could become exporters of the [weapons] technology."
Wikoff acknowledged that U.S. efforts to degrade the group's capabilities have had limited success, and he described the U.S. Navy's current mission as a "shock absorber" in the Red Sea "to maintain some semblance of maritime order while we give an opportunity for policy to be developed." The challenge in creating deterrence, he suggests, is that the Houthis are a decentralized group and don't have much of a center of gravity to threaten.