An international report has warned of expanding Iranian activities destabilising Yemen and neighbouring regions through the Houthi militia, which continues to smuggle weapons and drugs in defiance of international resolutions.
Published by Eurasia Review, the report revealed that Iran’s growing influence in Sudan via the Houthis could escalate regional tensions and threaten international shipping across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Yemeni affairs analyst Fernando Carvajal, a former member of the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, said the Iranian-backed Houthis’ extension from Yemen’s coast to Sudanese territory has intensified the regional conflict.
Despite earlier claims by the United States that the Houthis agreed to halt attacks on global trade vessels, the group continues to target ships in the Red Sea, the report noted.
It cited recent strikes on the Scarlet Ray and MSC Abyei near Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port, suggesting the attacks likely originated from near Sudan’s coast, hundreds of miles from Yemen.
Former Yemeni defence attaché Hisham al-Maqdashi was quoted as saying that one of the drones targeting the MSC Abyei may have been launched from a fishing vessel off Sudan’s shores, signalling a possible new Houthi base there.
Carvajal added that Iran has reinforced the Houthis’ regional network by deepening cooperation with Somalia’s al-Shabaab movement, creating new supply routes from the Horn of Africa to Sudan.
Through this expansion, the Houthis could exploit Sudanese ports and facilities for storing arms and launching operations, while easing pressure on their Yemeni strongholds.
The report warned that the intertwining conflicts in Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia risk turning the Red Sea into a broader battleground—one that could soon engulf regional and global interests alike.
