Iran accused of directing Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping to support Hamas

While Iran controls Hezbollah and its estimated 150,000-missile arsenal, it understands a mass attack from Lebanon would inflame the conflict with unknown consequences. “It’s highly likely that the Iranians need to escalate in some way to demonstrate support for Hamas and as the Houthis are not the crown jewel in Iran's proxy network, it's an organisation with which they have a fairly transactional relationship,” said Sidharth Kaushal, of the Royal United Services Institute think tank.