• The Houthis possess a sizable arsenal of weapons, including missiles and drones.

• The Yemeni rebels couldn't have done that without foreign help, according to a new UN report.

• The Houthis have used these weapons to target ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The Houthi rebels couldn't have amassed their dangerous arsenal of weapons without extensive help from Iran and its proxy forces in the Middle East, according to a new report for the United Nations.

In the lengthy report, which was delivered to the UN Security Council last month, a panel of experts concluded that the Yemen-based Houthis have been receiving training, weapons, technical assistance, and financial support from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and armed Iraqi groups.

The Houthis are behind a yearlong campaign targeting key merchant shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. They have launched more than 130 attacks — mainly using missiles and drones — against commercial and Western naval vessels.

The rebels have struck a number of commercial vessels during their campaign, sinking two of them and hijacking one (nearly a year later, its crew remains detained in Yemen). Four sailors have been killed so far as a result of the attacks.

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The panel of experts said in their report that the Houthis have exploited the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and, through their attacks, have tried to boost their status within Iran's so-called "axis of resistance," a band of proxy forces around the Middle East.

The Houthis held a military parade in September 2023, during which the group boasted a formidable arsenal of anti-ship missiles, ballistic and cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles, aerial drones, naval drones, speedboats, surveillance systems, and mines.

However, the experts said that the Houthis do not have the ability to produce and develop complex weaponry like that without foreign assistance. They also said the rebels likely received external assistance in identifying, locating, and targeting commercial vessels since many of them turned off their automatic identification systems before they entered the area.

"The scale, nature and extent of transfers of diverse military materiel and technology provided to the Houthis from external sources, including financial support and training of its combatants, is unprecedented," the experts wrote in their report.

US naval forces have repeatedly intercepted vessels attempting to smuggle weapons from Iran to the Houthis illegally. One such mission in January resulted in the seizure of parts for ballistic and cruise missiles.

The Pentagon has kept a naval presence in and around the Red Sea throughout the Houthi campaign, during which American warships have routinely intercepted their missiles and drones. Additionally, US forces have carried out significant airstrikes against the rebels in Yemen.

The UN panel of experts said US and UK forces together have destroyed more than 800 Houthi missiles and drones and have taken out command posts, radars, and weapons storage facilities.

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Reports claim Houthis make Red Sea vessel attacks a $2B business

A European Union naval vessel escorts a container ship through the Red Sea.

Houthi rebels are extorting as much as $2 billion a year from shipping lines in exchange for not attacking their vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to a new study.

The unreleased study based on research by a panel of Yemen experts for the United Nations Security Council found that the Houthis were pulling in $180 million per month in the “tolling” protection racket, one published report said, though the panel could not independently verify that number.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea — a critical route for ships sailing between Asia, the Mediterranean and the east coast of North America — with drones, missiles and watercraft, killing four people and sinking two vessels. The Red Sea provides access to the Suez Canal to the north and the Gulf of Aden to the south.

The Houthis claim to only block shipping from Israel-connected countries, but the study found attacks on vessels from Houthi-backing countries, including Iran, according to another news article.

Most major shipping companies have diverted containerships and tanker vessels away from the region and on to longer voyages via the Cape of Good Hope around the Horn of Africa. That route adds 10-14 days to the duration of a voyage, adding delays and costs for shippers. But a steady flow of local and region-based vessels continue to ply the Red Sea daily.

Among major carriers, only CMA CGM of France continues to operate scheduled rotations through the Red Sea. The company did not respond to an email request for comment.

The panel found that the Houthis carried out more than 130 attacks on merchant ships from November 2023 through the end of July 2024.

The panel wrote that “[t]he group’s shift to actions at sea increased their influence in the region. Such a scale of attacks, using weapon systems on civilian vessels, had never occurred since the Second World War,” according to the news report.

The U.N. study found that the protection revenue is helping to finance and expand the Houthis’ operations in the region. This extended to cooperation with al-Qaida, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups, as well as pirates in Somalia and links to Iran’s military.

At the same time, the Houthis have built up a far-ranging network for money-laundering, recruitment, smuggling and moving arms.

“The scale, nature and extent of transfers of diverse military materiel and technology provided to the Houthis from external sources, including financial support and training of its combatants, is unprecedented,” the study found.

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