Islamist militants in Yemen fired missiles at high-profile targets in Saudi Arabia this weekend, expanding the scope of conflict in the Middle East as U.S.-Iran tensions drag on. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted missiles aimed at its capital, Riyadh, and the Red Sea terminus of its oil pipeline, Yanbu, while the Houthis claimed to have struck their targets.

Like Hamas, Hezbollah, and other scattered militias, the Houthis form part of Iran’s cordon of terror, which Tehran uses as deterrence against its adversaries throughout the region. Due to its sea access and the absence of a functioning civil government in Yemen, the Houthis are the strongest of Iran’s terrorist proxies.

However, “I don’t think that’s as much the Houthis being puppets for Iran as it is the Houthis doing the things that are in their own interests,” supposed retired General John Teichert on “Washington Watch.” “Sometimes those interests align with Iran. But right now, I think they’re focused on achieving what they believe is the initiative that is in their favor, which is starting to take larger swaths of Yemen.”

Besides launching missiles at Israel after October 7, the Houthis have intermittently attacked Saudi Arabia for years. “They have a desire to fight back against [the] Saudis [who have] struck them occasionally,” Teichert explained. “And their biggest point of leverage isn’t strikes against Saudi [targets] on land, but it is the threat of shutting off flow of goods through and into the Red Sea.”

“The biggest thing for Americans to understand is that flow through the Red Sea is far more important to us and actually the world than even the Persian Gulf,” he continued. “Fifteen percent of all worldwide transit goes through the Red Sea, and it’s the primary route between Asia and the East Coast of the United States.”

Incidentally, what is good for the Houthis also advances Iran’s own interests. If the Houthis close the Red Sea shipping lane, Saudi Arabia must export its oil by some other route, which would make the Strait of Hormuz all the more important. Additionally, Saudi Arabia is Iran’s foremost competitor for prominence in the Gulf region, and it assisted American forces in the war. Thus, any loss to Saudi Arabia is a gain for Iran.

The Houthi attacks come as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued new threats, saying that, “If a new attack takes place, our defense and offensive operations will change significantly. We will change the weapons and the geography of the war, and we will bring new capabilities with new capacities into the field. The world will be surprised.”

Significantly, “the threat comes as President Trump is in deciding mode when it comes to his next move in the conflict with Iran,” noted Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.

“I don’t think there’s any specific or credible threat here,” Teichert judged. “This is standard rhetoric by the IRGC that’s trying to deter us, which means stopping us from doing the things they don’t want us to do.”

In order to create deterrence, he explained, the Iranians “do two sets of things. Number one, they increase the perceived costs and risks to us. That means they could strike our forces or our positions or our allies and our partners. And then, secondly, they want to decrease the perception of benefits, which means find ways to shut off friendly flows of oil through or around the Strait of Hormuz.”

One reason Teichert doubted that any new type of threat was in mind is that Iran has not activated any espionage sleeper cells in foreign nations. “There’s always the possibility of a lone wolf, which means that we need to remain vigilant about potential threats,” he allowed. But, “if they were going to unleash something that they had that was more robust as a terror cell, then they would have done it during active combat operations six months ago, instead of waiting for now.”

However, he added, “I do think they’re trying to sow the seeds of doubt in our mind that those things are possible.”

Such threats are not entirely new. “The world is always a dangerous place, but right now it seems more so than normal,” Teichert continued. “We do have threats in Eastern Europe, in the Western Pacific, in the Middle East. … The United States has global commitments.”

“My biggest concern is not just specifically weapons stockpiles, but U.S. credibility,” Teichert expressed. “Every time we make threats and then don’t follow through — and we’ve seen several cycles of this in the Middle East against Iran — it diminishes our credibility not just in the eyes of the IRGC, but other potential adversaries.” Today’s global hotspots caught fire amid the astonishing show of weakness overseen by President Biden, but Teichert’s point is that President Trump is adding to the pile of reasons to distrust American deterrence.

“The key to deterrence in the minds of our adversaries is that they believe we have strength of both capability and will, and they have to believe that we can defend and protect our interests,” he said. “And sometimes, when our credibility is diminished, it makes the world even more dangerous than it was before.”

On January 13, President Trump encouraged the Iranian protestors, “Help is on its way.” The American assault did not begin until February 28, weeks after the Iranian regime had brutally suppressed the protests in blood, and President Trump has yet to show any firm resolve to remove the current regime from power.

This may seem strange, even irrational, but Perkins proposed that there is a “spiritual undercurrent” unfolding in the conflict.

“I always encourage Americans to pray for our nation and our leaders daily,” Teichert answered, “to pray and seek the Lord our God, who has always been the source of our protection and provision and peace and power.”

Paul urged churches “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). This counsel, given even to Christians living under a hostile pagan regime, is never out of date.