Welcome to the President's Inbox, a CFR podcast about the foreign policy challenges facing the United States.

I'm Jim Lindsay, Director's Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

This week's topic is The Houthi Threat to Red Sea Shipping.

With me to discuss the ongoing attacks by the Houthis in Yemen on commercial ships transiting the Red Sea is Catherine Zimmerman. Catherine is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute,

where she focuses on terrorist movements in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel.

She also advises

AEI's Critical Threats Project. She recently co-wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal titled

Washington Can't Let the Houthis Take Yemen. Catherine, thank you for joining me.

I am so glad to be here today. Well, I want to begin by noting that it's a fluid situation in the Red Sea at the moment.

Things could change by the time this podcast airs.

But if we may, Catherine, I'd like to start with the basics.

Who are the Houthis?

Who I should note also go by the name of Ansar Allah.

Yes, the Houthis are who I should note also go by the name of Ansar Allah. Yes, the Houthis are a Zadhi Shia group that seized power in Yemen in fall of 2014.

And the Cliff Notes version is that today they received significant Iranian support,

both in weapons provision, training.

And I would also add essentially developing them as a mini-state within Yemen, giving them the

diplomatic training, the media training, the ability to control a greater population. The real issue with the Houthis is that they

started off as an opposition group that had legitimate grievances. And that's where I think when

you hear about them, there's a dichotomy of the Houthis are this Iranian proxy like Lebanese Hesbollah that is taking over the Yemeni state

or other people frame them as an opposition group that rightly seized power

that is advancing the Yemeni cause. And today they lean so much closer to Lebanese Hezbollah.

...