Iran and the Houthis

Iran has ordered military personnel to leave Yemen, abandoning its Houthi allies as the US escalates an air strike campaign against the rebel group. A senior Iranian official said the move aimed to avoid direct confrontation with the US if an Iranian soldier was killed. The official said Iran was also scaling back its strategy of supporting a network of regional proxies to focus on the direct threats from the US instead.

Tehran’s primary concern, the source said, was “Trump and how to deal with him”. “Every meeting is dominated by discussions about him, and none of the regional groups we previously supported are being discussed,” the source said…

Mr Shehrah added: “After the collapse of Hezbollah and Assad’s regime, the Houthis are now on the front line and they have been conducting very intensive attacks – they are escalating and taking adventure because it makes their political life longer in Yemen, according to their own calculation. They get missiles and drones from Iran and rebrand them with Houthi names because they don’t want to show they have links with Iran because of domestic propaganda.”

DB2

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And what do you suppose the reaction of the Right, Fox, Muchoch, etc. if these same kinds of missile attacks were done during the previous administration?

I think I know. Do you?

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The function of the opposition is to oppose as long as it’s the loyal opposition. Gridlock is one of the safest forms of government. That’s what checks and balances is all about.

The Captain

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The previous administration (for some reason) removed the Houthis from the list of terrorist organizations. The current administration put them back on the list.

DB2

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And in a related note…

Iran-backed militias in Iraq ready to disarm to avert Trump wrath
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-backed-militias-iraq-ready-disarm-avert-trump-wrath-2025-04-07/
Several powerful Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq are prepared to disarm for the first time to avert the threat of an escalating conflict with the U.S. Trump administration, 10 senior commanders and Iraqi officials told Reuters. The move to defuse tensions follows repeated warnings issued privately by U.S. officials to the Iraqi government since Trump took power in January, according to the sources who include six local commanders of four major militias…

The officials told Baghdad that unless it acted to disband the militias operating on its soil, America could target the groups with airstrikes, the people added…

The shift comes at a precarious time for Tehran’s regional “Axis of Resistance” which it has established at great cost over decades to oppose Israel and U.S. influence but has seen severely weakened since Palestinian group Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 2023 tipped the Middle East into conflict…

Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie, a former political adviser to Sudani, told Iraqi state TV that the United States had long pressed Iraq’s leadership to dismantle Shi’ite militias, but this time Washington might not take no for an answer.

DB2

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So, Iran runs up the white flag. Will TIG accept the win, or, like #43, keep driving toward war? These moves by Iran are probably contributing as much to the falling price of oil as any recession jitters.

Steve

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That depends upon their nuclear program.

FWIW, I would also say that Iran has been at war with the US since 1979.

DB2

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The US has certainly been irritated at one of it’s pet despots being unhorsed.

Steve

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…and I and many others say that the UKofGB and then later the USA have been at war with Iran since the overthrow of the Iranian Republic (weak as it was) and the placement of the family of Reza Shah Palhavi as the West’s stooge ruler.under USA protection through to, oh my, 1979?

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The white flag is to protect the Iran nuclear program. A strategic retreat. The mullahs have not changed their long term objectives.

The Captain

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Winston Churchill declared petrol a legitimate war aim to transition the Royal Navy from coal to oil.

Alexander the Great invaded Iran, a.k.a. Persia. The West keeps on meddling in the Middle East.

The Captain

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