In the face of the multinational joint fleet organized by the United States, Yemen's Houthi rebels have not backed down, continued to carry out long-range strikes against Israel-related ships, and issued the latest threat to list submarine communication cables in the waters around Yemen as possible targets.
The Houthis appear to have targeted international communications cables under the sea. The Houthis posted a map of the distribution of submarine communication cables in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Sea on social media, and said that Yemen is strategically located in a key location, with internet lines connecting the entire continent passing through its vicinity, according to overseas reports. **The Houthi leadership threatened to return the West to the Stone Age, given the actions of the United Fleet organized by the West in places such as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the report said.
The Houthi threat is largely in response to recent escort operations organized by the United States and some Western countries in the Red Sea. Due to the Houthi attacks on Israeli ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and other waters, many international shipping companies have been forced to suspend the Suez Canal-Red Sea route, forcing ships to detour the Cape of Good Hope, which has a negative impact on the global shipping system and led to a sharp drop in freight in many Israeli ports.
In response to the Houthi actions, the United States announced a joint escort operation called "Prosperity Guardian" with several allies in the waters of the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. However, the Houthis did not stop and expanded their strikes to all ships in countries where the U.S. military led the escort. The two sides engaged in a series of exchanges in places such as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the coalition intercepted a large number of missiles and drones launched by the Houthis.
Although the fighting is still ongoing, the Houthis are not completely contained, but this has given some shipping companies confidence in restarting the relevant routes. Maersk, the world's second-largest shipping company, said it was considering resuming shipping through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Against this tense backdrop, the Houthis have intensified their strikes and targeted international communications cables under the sea. Submarine communication cables are key to the global data transmission system, and while they are usually operating stably, every damage to a fiber optic cable can have a huge impact.
In the waters around Yemen, a large number of critical communication fiber optic cables pass through. If the communication fiber optic cables in these sea areas are cut off, it will have a serious impact on the global economy. In 2022, an undersea volcanic eruption damaged submarine fiber optic cables, disrupting the South Pacific island nation of Tonga's entire network and leaving more than 100,000 people unable to communicate with the outside world. Although the impact is relatively limited, damage to fiber optic cables in critical areas will have a serious impact on global data transmission and industries.
Places such as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is adjacent to Houthi-controlled territory, are important points for key communications cables. Once the fiber optic cables in these sea areas are interrupted, it will have a certain impact on the global economy. The Houthi threat to cut submarine cables, while more of a countermeasure to Western actions, will still exacerbate geopolitical tensions and may even change attitudes toward the Houthis in some countries.
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