Washington’s latest tat in Yemen earns vows for more tit from Hezbollah

(Originally published Jan. 15 in “What in the World“) North Korea could be developing missiles designed to knock out U.S. bases around the Pacific.

Pyongyang on Sunday launched an intermediate-range missile into the Sea of Japan. Based on local media reports, the missile used solid fuel, marking an advance from North Korea’s previous intermediate-range missiles, which rely on liquid fuel. Solid-fuel rockets don’t require filling before firing, making them faster to launch. They’re also easier to transport and so can be deployed on trains and trucks, making them harder to target on the ground before launch. The new missile also reportedly had a hypersonic warhead, which would make it harder to knock down while in flight. The new missile could, in theory, reach Guam, which is the epicenter of a new U.S. missile defense system for the Pacific.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is struggling to fend off Russia as the U.S. Congress continues to withhold new military aid. Russian forces are apparently making gains in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. And Russia is rapidly depleting Ukraine’s supply of Patriots and other anti-missile systems by launching fusillades of missiles imported from Iran and North Korea against the rest of the country.

The U.S. and British forces mounted a second series of air strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The attacks are intended to prevent further Houthi attacks against commercial shipping through the Red Sea to and from the Suez Canal. The Houthis have vowed to retaliate.

U.S. President Joe Biden said after the second strike that his Administration had delivered a “private message” of warning to Tehran. Analysts say Iran has been coordinating its proxies’ attacks, while also supplying them with weapons and intelligence. Tehran uses these proxies to keep continued pressure on Israel and the U.S. without using its own forces and thereby provoking direct conflict. And as much as Washington may hope to avoid a wider conflict that necessitates more direct involvement of U.S. forces, Tehran wants to avoid tipping the regional conflict into a direct war between Iran against the U.S. and Israel

Unfortunately, the conflict appears likely to expand anyway. Already, Israel is retaliating against increasing attacks by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. And U.S. strikes against the Houthis, analysts warn, are unlikely to eliminate their ability to harass Red Sea shipping. On the contrary, they only legitimize and galvanize the ragtag rebel group, as by enabling it to portray itself as part of the wider resistance to American supremacy. Indeed, Hezbollah expressed support for the Houthis over the weekend, warning that U.S. attacks against them jeopardized shipping not just in the Red Sea, but globally.