The Houthis are becoming less dependent on Tehran and now represent a “clear and very present danger” beyond the Middle East, according to a former U.S. envoy. As the militant group rebuilds its arsenal and improves its ability to strike targets, its reach is expanding, he warned Thursday.
The assessment followed a series of deadly missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, along with mounting concerns over threats to international shipping lanes and vital infrastructure across the region.
Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, said Thursday that Houthi attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 17 people and wounded 333 between Oct. 7 and Oct. 11.
During a news briefing in Riyadh, al-Maliki said the Oct. 10 assault included 10 drones, missiles and other airborne projectiles.
“King Khalid International Airport has been subjected to 20 attacks since (Oct. 1),” he said.
Tim Lenderking, who served as the U.S. special envoy for Yemen from 2021 through 2025 and previously worked in Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2016, said Saudi officials had warned Washington more than a decade ago that the Houthis could develop into a serious regional threat. In his view, that warning has now become reality.
The Houthis are increasingly acting on their own rather than relying on Tehran, presenting a “clear and very present danger” internationally as the terror group expands its weapons stockpiles and refines its strike capabilities. (Handout from Houthi Media Center via Getty Images)
“The Saudis were very clear to our leaders that they viewed the Houthis as a major threat,” Lenderking recalled, referring to his time in the kingdom roughly a decade ago.
At that stage, he said, the movement was “quietly building up their capability” while promoting its ideological justification for seeking leadership in Yemen. He described the Houthis as a northern Yemeni movement with a distinct agenda and mission.
The Houthis began as a religious and political movement in Yemen during the 1990s. Their relationship with Iran evolved into a military partnership after 2014, when Tehran increased its support and training during Yemen’s civil war.
“The Houthis don’t really need the Iranians anymore,” said Lenderking, a former acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. He stressed, however, that the relationship remains “very important” and helped transform the Houthis into the powerful force they are today.
Lenderking, now a distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute, said the group had gradually created its own “homegrown indigenous capability,” while taking advantage of divisions and uncertainty among Gulf states.
The latest missile and drone assault on King Khalid International Airport raised questions about whether President Donald Trump might be pulled into a wider Middle East confrontation as Saudi Arabia seeks additional U.S. support.
When asked whether the United States would protect Saudi Arabia from future Houthi attacks, Trump replied, “You’ll find out soon.”
Smoke and flames rise from King Khalid International Airport after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked the airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 8, 2026. (Reuters)
At an MEI briefing, Lenderking said the Houthis’ advanced weapons and increasingly accurate targeting have shifted the group from a localized insurgency into a threat with international security implications.
“They have the capability to hit around the region, including up into the northern reaches of the Red Sea. So, this is a regional problem, and given the fact that the Houthis control the west coast of Yemen,” Lenderking said.
“It’s an international problem now.”
Lenderking pointed to the precision of the Riyadh airport strike as evidence that Houthi capabilities have advanced significantly since earlier attacks carried out during the Gaza conflict.
“They can hit things better. Now, they are hitting Terminal Four of Riyadh Airport, very specifically. It’s a clear and very present danger,” he said.
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The Houthis reportedly launched multiple drones followed by cruise and ballistic missiles that traveled more than 620 miles to Riyadh, prompting an investigation into possible Saudi air defense failures, according to The Associated Press, citing regional officials.
Saudi forces intercepted two more ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh on Monday. On Tuesday, a Houthi strike caused damage to Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran, sparking a fire that spread across several floors, Reuters reported.
Lenderking said the Houthis have built extensive weapons supply chains, smuggling networks and domestic financing operations that allow them to sustain attacks without relying solely on Tehran.
Houthi supporters demonstrate in solidarity with Iran, amid a two-week ceasefire between U.S. and Iran, in Sanaa, Yemen, April 10, 2026. (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)
“They get a lot of supplies off the open market through the internet, through commercial exchanges. They have a very well entrenched smuggling network, from big boats onto small boats, onto tiny boats, on the pack animals, on people’s backs.
“They are able to move things undetected through government terrain, even through various borders and with a lot of wide open space there. They are constantly moving, building, resupplying, restocking, innovating.”
The group’s self-sufficiency also extends to financing. Lenderking said the Houthis generate revenue through black-market oil sales, taxation and extortion while also forcing families to provide recruits, allowing the group to continue fighting even if Iranian assistance is cut off.
“They have had support from Iran over the years, so they have money in the bank from that,” Lenderking said.
“They relied on sales of black market oil in the past. They extort Yemeni transport companies, businesses. They tax people in areas that they control. They force many families to offer up a son to fight on the front lines.”
The Houthis’ expanding arsenal has raised concerns about potential Chinese involvement in their weapons supply networks.
Tim Lenderking, who served as U.S. special envoy for Yemen from 2021 to 2025 and was posted to Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2016, said Saudi officials had warned more than a decade ago that the Houthis would become a major threat, a prediction he says has now materialized. (Houthi Media Center via Getty Images)
Yemen’s government has accused the rebels of seeking Chinese components for medium-range ballistic missiles, raising concerns about the group’s access to advanced military technology.
“There is a Chinese connection here that’s very detrimental,” Lenderking warned, adding that front companies have helped the group obtain weapons through commercial channels.
Lenderking warned that the Houthis could also target Saudi energy facilities, pipelines and desalination plants, infrastructure critical to the kingdom’s economy and water supply.
“The Houthis have hit pipelines,” he said. “They have diesel plants and other energy infrastructure in their sights.”
Attacks on such facilities could disrupt global energy markets, maritime commerce and regional stability.
The Houthis also control Yemen’s western coastline along the Red Sea, a vital shipping corridor connecting Europe and Asia.
With the rebels now capable of striking targets hundreds of miles away, Lenderking warned that the threat extends far beyond Yemen’s borders.
“One blast at Riyadh Airport is a huge statement,” the expert said.
“That’s why I come back to the fact that this is an international conflict,” he said, adding that “immediate action is required.”
