By Muammar Al-Eryani, Minister of Information, Republic of Yemen

The article argues that Red Sea insecurity originates on land, where Houthi smuggling, assembly and launch capabilities—bolstered by Iranian support—turn Yemeni territory into a platform for threatening global shipping, and that naval interceptions alone cannot remove the source.

It contends that restoring full Yemeni state sovereignty over ports, coastline and territorial waters is inseparable from maritime security, because only state institutions can permanently close smuggling routes and control strategic weapons.

The recommended shift is from managing attacks to four priorities: treating Houthi disarmament as integral to Red Sea strategy, linking sea and land operations against supply networks, investing in permanent Yemeni coast-guard and intelligence capacity, and supporting the reassertion of state authority so that foreign warships are no longer required indefinitely.

Every time the Houthi militia targets a vessel in the Red Sea, one reality becomes increasingly difficult to ignore: The threat that emerged at sea began on land.

Before a missile or drone ever reaches a shipping lane, an entire chain of activity has already taken place — smuggling, storage, assembly, technological development, the movement of launch platforms through areas beyond state control, and ultimately a military decision taken by an armed militia that operates outside state institutions and beyond Yemen’s national and international obligations.

Experience over the past several years has demonstrated that international naval deployments and interception capabilities can protect vessels and disrupt attacks. What they cannot do on their own is eliminate the source of the threat.

That distinction should fundamentally reshape the way Red Sea security is approached.

The strategic question can no longer be limited to: How do we protect ships when the Houthis launch missiles and drones?

It must become: How do we eliminate the capability that allows the Houthis to generate that threat and use Yemeni territory as a platform to endanger international navigation?

There can be no sustainable security in the Red Sea while the Houthi militia operates outside the institutions of the state. Ending the Houthi threat and restoring........

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