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Welcome to Rewind & Reconnoiter. Each week, we’ll ask one of our authors to look back at an article they’ve written for War on the Rocks in light of a current news event. Did their argument hold up? Read more below to find out.***In 2019, Thomas Juneau wrote “How Iran Helped Houthis Expand Their Reach” for War on the Rocks, looking at how Iran has helped Houthi rebels in Yemen grow into a major regional security threat that presents “a growing risk to rivals like Saudi Arabia and, eventually, Israel.” In light of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea in recent weeks, we asked Thomas to look back on his article and see how his argument holds up today. Read more below.Image: Xinhua (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed)In your article, you argue that “the Houthis are now developing their own foreign policy, forming direct ties with other Iranian partners in the region and presenting a growing risk to rivals like Saudi Arabia and, eventually, Israel.” In the two years since you wrote this article, how has this developed?The trend that I identified in that article has clearly continued, and, if anything, it has intensified. Fifteen years ago, the Houthis were a local actor, with local grievances, focused on a small corner of northwestern Yemen. Today, they are the de facto governing authority, ruling over more than half of the country’s population and in control of Sana’a, the capital of Yemen. As I wrote in that 2021 article, they have also emerged as a regional power, with regional ambitions — and, crucially, the means and willingness to pursue those ambitions. Their missile and drone arsenal can reach cities and critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, providing the Houthis with significant leverage over Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. As we have