Very plausible Iran can send some re-supply to them to continue a consistent rate of launches, keeping Iran both out and in the conflict. Give some unguided Ghadrs and harras them. Getting Houthis to fire even 100 missiles over 3 months is significant, Without Iran firing a direct shot, it already forces consumption of interceptors.
Without even firing a shot, Iran broke SA's missile defense.
Saudi Arabia’s defense against the Houthi rebels’ drones pits $1 million missiles against $10,000 “flying lawn mowers.” And the Saudis’ arsenal is fast depleting, prompting urgent appeals to the U.S. and Gulf and European allies for a resupply.
www.wsj.com
Same strategy should be enacted here, all US and Israel can do is some token strikes to give the appearance of action without effecting strategic equations.
Exactly, this is precisely what I have been saying about the utility of these strikes.
We also know Iran has been emphasising local production / self-sufficiency of the axis of resistance, so it's plausible that Iran only has to smuggle in parts of these weapon systems at this point. We also know that Iran has a strong presence on the ground in Yemen via the Qods Force, so it is plausible they are assisting with local assembly / launching.
Notice how the Houthis changed their strategy after the first attack and have been getting closer each time (first time USA intercepted over Red Sea, third time Israel intercepted over the Red Sea near Eilat, fourth time (today) Israel intercepted over Eilat with one missile allegedly impacting inside Israel).
Houthis have an incredible arsenal of Iranian weapons:
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Ballistic missiles: Fateh-110 (300km), Raad-500 (500km), Qiam-1/2 (800/1000km), Kheibar Shekan (1450km), Rezvan (1400km), Ghadr-F (1650-1950km)
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Cruise missiles: Paveh LACM (up to 2000km range with Qods-4)
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Drones: Shahed-131 (900km range), Shahed-136 (claimed up to 2500km range), Ababil-2
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Air defence: 358 SAM (100/150km range), Taer-2 SAM (50/70km range)
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Anti-ship: Ghader ASCM (300km range), Hoveizeh ASCM with optical guidance (1400km range), Khalije-Fars ASBM with EO guidance (300km range), Raad-500 ASBM with EO guidance (500km range - this hasn't even been seen in Iran yet)
This is just their Iranian-supplied weapons that they have publicly shown or used - they also have large inventories of Soviet weapons they inherited from the former Yemen Army (including SCUD and Tochka ballistic missiles, S-75 air defence and anti-ship missiles). They also recently flew a F-5 jet over the capital city Saana, which is pretty funny/insane.
Thanks to Iran, they are without a doubt the best armed non-state actor in the world. An incredibly powerful (and strategically located) ally in the Axis of Resistance that the Saudis gifted to Iran due to their strategic stupidity.
