Operation Prosperity Guardian Advances to New Strategic Phase
On March 15, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the launch of a “decisive” military operation against the Houthis in Yemen, stating that the Houthis had been conducting a “continuous campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism” against U.S. ships, planes, and drones, among others. He accused the Houthis of waging “an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones.” He said U.S. personnel were carrying out aerial attacks on Houthi bases, leaders and missile defenses “to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom.”[i]
During a media interview yesterday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military will continue to tactically engage Iranian-backed Houthis until they stop acting aggressively against U.S. ships in the region. “Freedom of navigation is basic; it’s a core national interest,” Hegseth said, adding that the current campaign is about restoring deterrents in the region in addition to freedom of navigation.[ii]
Yemen’s Houthis said on March 12, 2025, they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden, ending a period of relative calm starting in January with the Gaza ceasefire. On March 17, 2025, a Houthi spokesperson said that “fighters had launched 18 missiles and a drone at the ‘aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its accompanying warships.’”[iii]
Using ICGER’s methodology, Dr. Youssef accurately predicted these events in a study titled “Pakistan, Iran, and The Signs of A Sweeping War: The Battlefield as Arbiter.” He wrote on January 19, 2024: “The new Houthi threat to target the oil fields in the Gulf region will renew the war against Yemen more intensely than previously. This will give Saudi Arabia and the UAE a reason to intensify the war after the United States put the brakes on their attack against San’aa and the Houthi-controlled regions, stopping them from a definitive victory against Houthis. The 2019 Stockholm Accord prevented the fall of Hudaida in the hands of the Emiratis and the crushing of the Houthi forces, forcing the UAE to exit the war against Yemen. However, the Houthi threat against maritime traffic in the Red Sea led to the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, led by the USA, which might include additional strategic missions absent today in case the Houthis ramp up their attacks on international trade or surpass them to attack American military assets in the area. The Operation will then shift to a different strategic phase in which it will support Gulf countries and the Yemeni government forces in Eden to wage war against the Houthis and defeat them.”
[i] https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/15/politics/trump-houthis-military-action/index.html
[ii] https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4122357/hegseth-says-campaign-against-houthis-will-be-unrelenting-until-hostilities-cea/
[iii] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/17/houthis-claim-retaliatory-attack-on-us-ships