Houthis' threat to Bab el-Mandeb shipping explained by expert

Paris – In an exclusive interview with France 24’s Gavin Lee, Professor Thomas Juneau, a leading scholar on the Houthi movement and its ties to Iran, outlined the origins, goals, and maritime threat posed by the Yemeni insurgent group. The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, emerged in the early 2000s as a Zaidi Shia revivalist movement in northern Yemen, later evolving into a political and military force that seized the capital, Sana’a, in 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. Juneau emphasized that the group’s primary objectives are to secure greater political representation, control key state institutions, and resist what it perceives as foreign interference, particularly from Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners.

Juneau warned that the Houthis have increasingly leveraged their missile and drone capabilities to target commercial shipping in the Bab el‑Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint through which roughly one‑third of global maritime trade passes. While the group has conducted several high‑profile attacks on vessels, the professor noted that its capacity to sustain a prolonged campaign that could “ransom” a significant portion of world trade remains limited by logistical constraints, regional counter‑measures, and the risk of provoking a broader international response. Nonetheless, he stressed that the threat to global supply chains is real and requires vigilant monitoring, diplomatic engagement, and coordinated naval security efforts to mitigate potential disruptions.