US air strikes on Yemen have cut off key supply lines from Iran to the Houthis: report

• The US and UK launched strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen last week.
• They cut off key supply lines from Iran to Yemen, Western officials told Bloomberg.

The US and UK air strikes have cut off key supply lines from Iran to the Houthis in Yemen, Bloomberg reported, citing Western officials.

The sources, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, told the outlet that Iran has not been able to replenish Houthi rebels with weaponry via sea routes since the strikes.

The report referred to the US and the UK strikes on January 9 and January 11.

US warships and the UK's HMS Diamond shot down 21 drones and missiles fired toward international shipping lanes on January 9, CENTCOM reported at the time.

And on January 11, air strikes targeted Houthi radar stations, storage facilities, and launch sites for drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, an unnamed US defense official told Business Insider.

"Degrading these capabilities hinders the Houthis' ability to continue their malign behavior in the future," they said.

The efforts appear to have paid off, at least in the short term, as US and UK official sources told Bloomberg that since January 11 Iran hasn't tried to send a single shipment to Yemen via the sea routes.

However, the sources added that the disruption may just be temporary and that it was too early to determine the long-term effects of the attack.

While one Bloomberg source described it as a "positive sign," another said the main goal of the strikes was to sever the Houthis' capacity to quickly resupply with weapons.

The US and its allies have been engaged in yearslong efforts to stop Iran from supplying weapons to Houthi fighters in Yemen.

In February 2023, the US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said it partnered with French special forces during a January raid in the Gulf of Oman.

They captured over 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition, and 23 advanced anti-tank guided missiles, it said at the time.

In 2021, CENTCOM claimed to have stopped 9,000 illicit weapons from getting to Yemen — a 200% year-on-year increase in the total number of weapons confiscated, it said.

And as recently as last week, US Navy SEALs disrupted Iranian shipments of weapons to Yemen, according to CENTCOM.

They seized propulsion, guidance, and warheads for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles meant for the Houthis, as well as air-defense-associated components, it said.

Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel who is now a senior advisor with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told BI that the raid showed the US was still trying to shut down the Iranian resupply of the Houthis.