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1 [1] (March 20, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/ymncntred0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Informing the legislative debate since 1914 Updated March 20, 2025 Yemen: Conflict, Red Sea Attacks, and U.S. Policy Yemen is a conflict-afflicted nation along the strategic Bab al Mandab Strait, one of the world's most active shipping lanes. Since 2015, a civil war has pitted the Iran-backed Houthi movement against Yemen's internationally recognized government, its backers, and other anti-Houthi forces. Foreign intervention complicates the conflict, which has contributed to what United Nations agencies have described as one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. An uneasy truce has frozen conflict lines since 2022 (Figure 1). The Iran-backed Houthis have launched numerous attacks on international shipping since October 2023, ostensibly to compel Israel to end its war with Hamas. U.S.-led coalition patrol operations and counterstrikes seek to restore security in the Red Sea corridor, but Yemen's underlying conflict remains unresolved and the Houthis could pose long-term threats. In March 2025, President Donald Trump ordered an expanded campaign of military strikes against Houthi targets. The Houthis vowed to retaliate. Overview and Key Stakeholders Long-running Yemeni disputes over governance and energy resources have deepened since 2015 amid foreign influence and intervention. The Republic of Yemen was formed by a 1990 merger of the Sana'a-led Yemen Arab Republic (a former Ottoman province, then Zaydi Shia-ruled kingdom) and the Aden-led People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (a former British colony and protectorate, then independent Marxist regime). North-south tensions and conflict have recurred since the 1960s, and a southern independence movement remains active. Tribal networks and local actors are the most influential parties in many areas of the country. Arab Spring-era protests and unrest led the president of the Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG) to resign in 2012. A UN-mediated transition and national dialogue sought to broker new governing arrangements. The Houthi movement (alt. Ansar Allah or Partisans of God), a north Yemen-based Zaydi Shia network, opposed UN-backed outcomes and resumed an insurgency. In 2014, the Houthis seized the capital, Sana'a, and later advanced on Aden. ROYG leaders fled and requested international intervention. In March 2015, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia began a military campaign against the Houthis, whose attacks across Yemen's borders grew in complexity and scope with deepening support over time from Iran. The United States has provided logistical, intelligence, and advisory support to the coalition, but ended aerial refueling and some arms sales to Saudi Arabia in response to civilian casualties and congressional action. In 2019, tensions between anti-Houthi forces in the ROYG (backed by Saudi Arabia) and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC, backed by the United Arab Emirates) led to open warfare. A 2020 power-sharing agreement formed a coalition government. Since 2022, an eight-person Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) has led Yemen's internationally recognized government. That year, the ROYG and Houthis signed a truce, halting most fighting and establishing humanitarian measures. Lines of conflict, in some areas mirroring Yemen's pre-unification borders, have been static (Figure 1). The Sunni Islamist Islah Party and National Resistance leader Tariq Saleh oppose the Houthis and hold PLC seats. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State remain active. Figure 1. Yemen: Key Actors and Approximate Areas of Influence As of March 2025 Sources: CRS using ESRI and U.S. Department of State map data. Areas of Influence based on ACAPS data and UN and media reports. 1o

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