Iran-backed Houthi threat in Red Sea could lead to major US policy shift, analysts say

JOHANNESBURG: As the Iran-backed Houthis step up their threat to Red Sea shipping, analysts say the U.S. could consider a major change in strategy.

Houthi attacks on ships passing through a vital chokepoint may lead Washington to cement relations with more reliable partners along Africa ’s coastline.

Somaliland is a pro-U.S. outpost, having broken away from war-torn Somalia in 1991, and is offering the U.S. the use of one of the longest runways in Africa, an air base and a deep sea port on the Red Sea.

IRAN AND HOUTHI TERROR PROXY FACING RED SEA THREAT FROM PRO-US AFRICAN NATION The Houthis have vowed to close the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow waterway through which Saudi Arabia exports up to 7 million barrels of oil a day, now that access to the Strait of Hormuz is severely restricted.

In the past month in the Red Sea, the Houthis have reportedly attacked Saudi-flagged ships, are said to have sunk an Indian commercial cargo vessel and, on Aug.

13, an Egyptian cargo ship was hit, with at least four of its crew killed.

The U.S. already has a large military base on the Red Sea in Djibouti, but this is claimed to be increasingly problematic.

"China is significantly expanding its military and commercial presence in Djibouti, " Edmund Fitton-Brown previously told Fox News Digital.

Fitton-Brown, the former British ambassador to the Houthis’ home country, Yemen, and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, (FDD), added, "There is a sense that Djibouti is not a reliable ally for the U.S.

So Somaliland’s time has probably come." Major General Ken Ekman, who retired last year from being the Department of War’s West Africa Coordination Element Lead, said, in essence, the Houthis could force the U.S. into recognizing Somaliland as an independent state.

"The Houthis could compel a different U.S. strategy in Africa." TRUMP THREATENS 'MAJOR MILITARY PUNISHMENT' FOR IRAN OVER FUTURE HOUTHI ATTACKS Ekman said the Houthis are building up a second front in this Middle East conflict .

"It distracts the U.S. and stretches our assets," he added.

"The Houthis have a strategy of their own.

They are testing U.S. military ability, and are likely to pull the trigger in a major way when Iranian influence in the Strait of Hormuz wanes in leverage." He said that recently the U.S.