Houthi Minister-Ships Need Permits In Yemeni Waters

Speaking on 4 March the telecommunications minister for the Houthis, Misfer Al-Numair, claimed that ships entering Yemeni waters may be required to obtain a permit from the Houthi-controlled Maritime Affairs Authority in order to transit. Al-Numair stated that “(We) are ready to assist requests for permits and identify ships with the Yemeni Navy, and we confirm this is out of concern for their safety,”

• At the TMP24 Conference in Long Beach, CA, former US Secredary of Defense Robert Gates speculatedthat " (the Houthis) may decide that they like the idea of controlling the amount of shipping going through the Red Sea, and we'll continue this for an indefinite period of time. [...] the only country that can influence the Houthis [...] is Iran. And frankly, in my view, the United States government has been too shy about taking measures that punish Iran...”
• As Gates notes, should the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza produce a ceasefire the Houthis could prove reluctant to halt their campaign and instead look to boost revenues. This is a very risky strategy though, with the prospect of continued or escalating Western military involvement in the region and blowback towards Iran from regional powers displeased with the economic and security impact of the Houthi actions.
• Amid this Houthi attacks continue. A Swiss-owned container ship was hit by a missileon 4 March, while Reuters reports comments from a Hong Kong-based comms firm claiming that four major subsea comms cables had been damaged in the past week affecting 25% of data traffic passing under the Red Sea.