US experts: Lack of effective deterrence of Houthis encourages them to continue their "harmful activities"

US experts have ruled out that the Houthis currently have any significant incentives to stop what they described as their “malicious activities” in the region, criticizing the lack of effective deterrence by the international community, which they warned encourages the Houthis to launch attacks on commercial shipping vessels and detain UN staff on the pretext of spying.

“The threat posed by the Houthis and their Iranian patron will only grow if the international community does not do more to counter their malign activities,” Joe Trozman, a senior research analyst and editor of the foundation’s Long War Journal, was quoted as saying in an analysis by the US Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

He added: "Arms smuggling from Iran continues to provide the Houthis with advanced missiles that they use to attack commercial ships, American and partner forces, as well as Israeli territory."

In turn, Ryan Probst, a senior research analyst at the foundation, stressed that “stopping the Houthi attacks must include a serious effort to cut off the supply lines that allow Iran to transfer these weapons to Yemen.”

The experts said that the UN special envoy, Hans Grundberg, should regret that the international community did not take seriously the threat posed by the Houthis a decade ago.

This came in response to the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, calling on the Houthis in Yemen to stop their attacks on international shipping on October 15, warning that what the analysis describes as a “terrorist organization” could push Yemen into a regional conflict with the United States and Israel.

If the Houthis continue their attacks on civilian ships, the consequences could range from further US and Israeli military strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen to an environmental disaster in the Red Sea, Grundberg said.

“Such attacks on civilian shipping are completely unacceptable and must stop immediately,” he told the UN Security Council, adding that dozens of UN staff were currently being held against their will by the Iran-backed group and calling for their immediate release.

The French political coordinator at the United Nations echoed Grundberg's comments, saying that the ongoing Houthi attacks "fuel escalation in the region, for which the Houthis bear a large responsibility."