Barsam Mohammadi – regional issues expert

One side of this battle is the United States, known for having the most advanced military, intelligence, and air operations facilities supported by space-based technologies worldwide. On the other side is Yemen’s Ansarullah, which has been surrounded by land, sea, and air for many years and is not comparable to America in terms of military power.

The Most Important Strength of Ansarullah

The most important “strong point” of Ansarullah is that it is not an army but rather a “resistance force” that fights in asymmetric warfare as “guerrillas” and carries out “dispersed” operations against America and the Zionist regime. In the past ten months, it has delivered “deadly blows” to America in the region, which was unprecedented even in the two world wars and the Cold War period and after that.

For example, since the beginning of the operation to support the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, Ansarullah has targeted 177 American ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In addition, Ansarullah has shot down more than 12 advanced American MQ-9 spy drones to date, which is a “remarkable record” of downing American drones in the world. The MQ-9 drone costs about 32 million dollars and has unique capabilities in espionage and operations.

Consequences

Ansarullah’s asymmetric battle with America has “important consequences” in different dimensions, the most important of which are mentioned below:

A) Increase in military expenses

One important consequence in this regard is the increase in military expenses. In recent months, Ansarullah’s missile and drone operations have faced the US Navy in the region with a dilemma and imposed a lot of military costs on the US government. To face Ansarullah, the US military still relies on expensive missile and air weapons, which cost the White House several million dollars per attack.

Today, America is facing a problem called “costly attacks” in the face of Ansarullah. For example, the Eisenhower Fleet, which until October 2023 was in charge of countering Ansarullah’s drone and missile operations in the Red Sea, fired 155 Standard Series missiles as well as 135 Tomahawk cruise missiles (each worth approximately $2 million) at a total of more than half a billion dollars has been spent.

In addition, the planes assigned to this strike group fired 420 air-to-surface missiles and 60 air-to-air missiles, each worth $150,000. According to available estimates, US attacks against Ansarullah cost about 500 million dollars every month. Meanwhile, none of the attacks of the United States and its allies in the Red Sea has been able to stop Yemen’s operational capacity in the Red Sea, but the shipping and insurance costs of ships have also increased.

  Increasing criticism of the government

The second consequence, which is in line with the first, is “increasing internal criticism” of the American government and Biden personally due to the cost of the conflict with Ansarullah in the region. The costly US attacks have caused Senator Jack Reid, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to sharply criticize Biden and ask the US president, “How long can we continue firing expensive missiles?”

William LaPlante, the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Support, also said in a statement in the US Senate: “Downing a $50,000 drone with a $3 million missile is not a good equation at all.” Because the largest army in the world with its advanced defense industry cannot produce cheaper weapons.”

The intensification of internal criticism of the government, while reducing Biden and the Democrats’ popularity in American public opinion due to successive defeats against Ansarullah, will become a tactic to “destroy” and “exploit” the Republican rival in the upcoming elections.

C) Weakening the Regional and International Image

The third consequence is weakening America’s political, military, and security image and credibility at the regional and international levels. A country that considers itself a hegemonic power in the world and is equipped with the most advanced military technologies has practically faced a dilemma in front of Yemen’s Ansarullah, which does not have the same military, economic, and infrastructure as an American city.

This issue, in turn, causes the spread of “distrust” in America by friendly and allied countries. The result and output of America’s war in the region, its full support for the Zionist regime in the Gaza war, and its unsuccessful attacks against Ansarullah in Yemen, which have been unsuccessful in all three areas, have caused the spread of this belief and mentality among some countries in the region. America can no longer be trusted.

The fact that the Arab countries of the region are improving their relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and also expanding strategic cooperation with non-Western powers, especially China, is largely influenced by some consequences of the asymmetric battle between Ansarullah and America.

E) Changing the Military Equations of the Region

The asymmetric war with Ansarullah has changed the past military equations in the Red Sea region, the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab. The United States, which until recently acted as a threatening force against the Islamic Resistance Front with its wide network of military and naval bases, today is at the forefront of the conflict with Ansarullah, which shows the depth of the fall of the American military from its previous position.

Yemen’s Ansarullah became the most significant challenge and threat to the American Navy after World War II and practically destroyed American strategic naval superiority in West Asia. Considering the effects and consequences it can have in other fields and public opinion, such an issue is definitely considered a unique opportunity for America’s international and regional rivals and enemies.