Persian Gulf | FDD's Long War Journal

Generation Jihad Ep. 133 — Striking Houthi targets in Yemen

Bill Roggio and Behnam Ben Taleblu | January 12, 2024

Bill and Behnam unpack the details they’ve been able to gather so far surrounding the U.S. and UK-led coalition strikes against Houthi targets inside Yemen and discuss whether this will restore deterrence. Accurate preview courtesy of Behnam: “We like to say ‘freaky Fridays’ here [we do not] — it can’t get freakier than the first-ever, historic use of force since October 7 by the U.S. and UK against the Houthis.”

Making sense of Iranian escalation

Behnam Ben Taleblu | May 20, 2019

Should Iran have taken the decision to attack civilian vessels that carry oil, it could represent one way to do damage to global oil shipments without inviting massive retaliation. Such a move would be consistent with Iran’s highly graduated approach to escalation and desire to respond to the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign.