Nearly five months after President Donald Trump halted U.S. airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthis in exchange for a temporary pause in attacks on shipping, the Iran-backed movement has re-emerged with broader ambitions.
Recent strikes near the Saudi port of Yanbu underscored the Houthis’ capacity to reach deep into the northern Red Sea. Now, evidence suggests they are extending their footprint into Sudan—a shift that could fuse two regional wars and escalate threats to global trade.
The attacks on the Scarlet Ray and MSC Aby in early September marked a striking advance in range—nearly 600 miles from Yemen’s shores.
Former Yemeni defense official Hisham Maqdashi said the MSC Aby strike was launched from a fishing dhow, in contrast to earlier attacks off Hodeidah that relied on small boats. But a more troubling possibility is emerging: launches from Sudan’s Red Sea coast, less than 200 miles from the strike zones.
Sudan’s fractured conflict provides the Houthis with opportunity. As traditional smuggling routes through Oman and the Arabian Sea face tighter interdiction, Iran has turned to East Africa.
Long linked to Somali militants and pirates, the Houthis now appear to be cultivating access to Port Sudan with Iran’s backing. U.S. officials say Tehran has already transferred Mohajer-6 and Ababil drones, along with missile systems, to Sudan’s armed forces since late 2023.
The risk is that these channels could also provide Houthis with new reach—and potentially new weapons.
The implications are sobering. Control of facilities in Port Sudan would allow Iran and the Houthis to stage operations far from Houthi strongholds battered by U.S. and allied strikes.
It would also place key shipping lanes at greater risk just as insurers and operators are already rerouting vessels around Africa to avoid Houthi harassment.
The merging of Yemen’s and Sudan’s wars also carries darker possibilities. U.S. sanctions recently targeted Sudanese factions accused of using chemical weapons, raising fears that technology transfers through Iranian channels could one day give the Houthis access to more destructive tools.
For Washington and its allies, the risk is not only the resilience of a militant movement once thought cornered, but also the danger of underestimating its geographic ambitions.
As the Houthis adapt and Iran deepens ties with Sudan’s embattled leadership, the conflicts on both sides of the Red Sea are becoming entangled. Left unchecked, that convergence threatens to transform localized insurgencies into a broader regional war.
