The Houthis and Iran suddenly get cold feet?

The odder side-effects of just one night

It’s most likely news too good to be true that the Houthis should suddenly announce their cessation of hostile activities against Red-Sea shipping, one minute after it became known it was all but certain that Trump had won the POTUS 2024 race. The ‘declaration’ to that effect was initially only on one single Twitter account, and that account is described by some as being a pro-Saudi-Arabia account, thus hostile to the Houthis. Others have described that account, @NewsNow4USA, as (allegedly) notorious for tweeting fake news. It’s entirely possible that @NewsNow4USA was simply indulging in some satirical schadenfreude, or wishful thinking. After all, the very last message known from the semi-official Twitter account of the Houthis, misleadingly self-advertising as being the “Yemeni Armed Forces”, was on 03. November, to the effect they would continue their aggression in and around the Red Sea. They’ve made no announcements since then. Nevertheless, @NewsNow4USA’s tweet was plausible enough that it struck a chord with many.

After all, the Houthis only exist because of the Iranian regime’s support and arms shipments. Tehran uses the Houthis as a cat’s paw not only against Israel and shipping around the Red Sea, but also and mainly against Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s real target. Now, Iran is known to have been directly responsible for at least one assassination attempt against Trump, and the Iranian regime repeatedly vowed to target Trump. Given all that, and that into addition Israel has essentially destroyed Iran’s missile air-defences in its recent retaliatory strike, then it’s very uncomfortable to be in the shoes of the Iranian regime at this time. Till now, the Biden admin has pursued a long-term policy of what amounts to appeasement of the Iranian regime, and has through various means hobbled much of the possible Israeli response to Iran’s continued aggression. Once Trump officially takes power as President of the USA in January, 2025, then of course everything’s up for grabs; the game has changed.

For the moment, I make no other comment on last night and the American presidential race beyond this very limited aspect.