Houthi Terror Group Opens Third Front In War Against Iran

What if you could have the most reliable Wi-Fi at the same price for five years?

That's the Xfinity 5-year price guarantee.

No annual contracts, no hidden fees, and our best equipment included.

Plus, get online in minutes with same-day Wi-Fi.

Just five years of fiber-powered Wi-Fi that boosts speeds to the devices that need them most.

Lock in your price and unlock the possibilities.

Xfinity.

Imagine that.

Select plans only restrictions apply powered by fiber connected to the premises by coaxial cable, actual speeds vary.

How can we help make stronger communities happen?

Well, at JP Morgan Chase, we invest in what's working.

In businesses that create more jobs.

In hospitals, delivering care where it's needed the most.

In workers building new buildings, bridges, and roads.

Connecting what we need to where we live.

Make the green grass crawl around all around.

Make the green grass crawl around.

Make momentum happen.

Learn more at JP Morgan Chase.com slash impact.

I'm David Asman.

I'm Janice Dean.

I'm Jimmy Fella.

And this is the Fox News rundown.

Tuesday, March 31st, 2026.

I'm Evan Brown.

The Houthis now want to help Iran fight off the US and Israel while the Islamic Republic clings.

But it's likely losing its grip over Iran entire.

This is now a zombie regime.

It is headless.

Yes, there's a quote unquote new supreme leader.

But he hasn't been seen.

His likeness hasn't been seen.

Nor has his voice been heard from since he's been appointed.

There's all these rumors.

That's world from him being abroad or him being hospitalized or in a coma.

We're simply just too afraid.

This is the Fox News rundown Operation Epic Fury.

How can we help make stronger communities happen?

Well, at JP Morgan Chase, we invest in what's working.

In businesses that create more jobs.

In hospitals delivering care where it's needed the most.

In workers building new buildings, bridges and roads.

Connecting what we need to where we live.

Make the green grass grow all around all around.

Make the green grass grow all around.

Make momentum happen.

Learn more at JP Morgan Chase dot com slash impact.

By many accounts, including that of President Trump,

regime change in Iran is accomplished.

The Islamic Republic may no longer be in full control.

And there are other power elements taking shape.

And yes, the world waits to see if the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

will stand aside or run.

And if the Iranian people will push them out.

But it's not over yet.

Another of the Islamic Republic's proxy fighter groups,

the Houthis of Yemen, have started firing a few missiles,

not much.

And sometimes Westerners laugh at the images of the Houthis,

portrayed as a ragtag bunch of dancing pirates,

with their bare feet shuffling across the US and Israeli flags,

as an insult.

And yet they're just now something else to deal with.

And perhaps not to be taken lightly.

The Houthis are among the most militarized

of the Islamic Republic's foreign proxies.

Ben and Ben Taliblu is the senior director for the Iran program

at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

And out of all the other ones,

even compared to Hezbollah, which goes far back compared to the Houthis

in terms of its relationship with the government of the Islamic Republic,

the Houthis have military capabilities that some European states

and even partner armies like in NATO don't even have,

like anti-ship ballistic missiles and medium range ballistic missiles.

And they are able to keep and expand this arsenal quite literally

under the cover of a multi-front war, which is impressive.

And the thing with the Houthis and in general,

jurisdictions of weak central authority like Yemen

is just because some things are weak does not mean that they are not lethal.

In fact, that is really the trend line.

Some of these actors are weak, but still lethal.

And these guys do punch above their weight when it comes to long-range strike capabilities,

cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones.

And they are entering, and I would just use the word entering still in the active sense,

the larger Israeli-Ran America war, they don't want to have massive escalation

and blowback against their arsenal, against what's left of their leadership,

but they do have to be taken seriously.

And one of the worst things you can do is to belittle an adversary.

Right. Let's talk about why now.

You know, when this war began with both the United States and Israel attacking Iran,

Hezbollah got involved pretty quickly.

Why did the Houthis wait till now? Are they part of a second wave of defense

or assistance for Iran at this point?

What's the tactical advantage of them?

You know, we're a month into this. So what's the big impetus right now?

Well, here's the flip side, which is that might be giving these Lamarco public

and its constellation of foreign proxies more credit.

Again, we shouldn't belittle them, but at the same time,

we shouldn't over-inflate the command and control that can exist right now under wartime

when they don't have many linkages between these fronts anyway.

Both of these groups, Hezbollah and the Houthis, I would say all three,

this triple-H have been significantly weakened by mostly Israeli

than later U.S. air power in the cycle of violence that we saw in the region,

post-October 7, 2023.

And it seems like both Hezbollah and the Houthis haven't really learned some of those lessons

because both of them seem to be incrementally entering in.

And Israel's response, at least to Hezbollah, due to their incremental entry into the conflict,

has been massive.

And I think the Israelis are showing the world, let alone some of these regional adversaries,

be they state or non-state actors, that they will not permit this kind of incremental,

limited warfare, retrition warfare on their doorstep any longer.

So certainly, the Houthis may have since an opportunity.

I think it's also quite likely that the government of the Islamic Republic,

their sponsor, their patron, did put pressure on them.

But I think they're all waiting and seeing how America and Israel respond to this,

quote-unquote, one-off.

And if they are trying to draw out a larger cycle of violence

that would give the Houthis just cause, or quote-unquote, in their mind, just cause,

to begin to shut down traffic in the Red Sea.

And in that time, when Iran is shifting the war with America and Israel away from politics and security,

and towards energy and economics, the regime might be looking to create a cycle of violence

that allows the Houthis to glide towards resuming Red Sea attacks

so that it can magnify the economic and energy impact of its attempts to close

the strait of hormones in the Persian Gulf.

Let's talk just about why the geography matters here.

There's the Red Sea, and then there's the strait of hormones in the Persian Gulf.

I think if I'm remembering the map at the moment, that's either side of the Arabian Peninsula.

Exactly. It's basically a two-horn approach to two critical waterways

where quite a bit of the east-west trade and also quite a bit of the energy trade

in particular, this seaborn oil trade goes through.

For example, through the strait of hormones, that's about one-fifth of the world's seaborn oil trade.

But it's not just, again, oil, it's fertilizer, it's helium, it's a whole host of other products

that are going from east to west that will cause shipping delays,

that will cause rises and insurance premiums, that will cause rises and consumer prices.

And we are beginning to see that effect at least quite a bit of the Asian economies.

And because the Red Sea leading up to the Suez Canal is a major commerce route.

I mean, we saw what happened when a ship got jammed up in the Suez Canal.

I guess it was just a couple of years ago.

It kind of brought a lot of international shipping, not necessarily fuel or energy, but just goods.

It kind of jammed up things for everyone.

Exactly. And we saw that again, magnified with the Houthi attempts to close the bubble,

Mendeb and fire on just, again, commerce going through the Red Sea.

I remember that incident very well because actually there was an attempt to have a multinational coalition

to try to save the tanker and really dig their way out of it.

But the Egyptians had just sent a couple of tractors,

and we're taking their sweet time to assist the tanker.

Let's talk about Iran itself now.

We've heard from President Trump in the past while that through his social media posts

that there's been a regime change effectively that whoever they're dealing with is not the same people

that had been running Iran just a month ago.

That sentiment was reflected again this morning by war secretary Pete Hegseth.

So who's left over there at this point that we can best tell?

We know that much of the top echelon has been done away with through targeted killings.

We know that there is a military structure, the proper military is in some disarray,

and there's still the IRGC, which is a separate from the military itself.

So is there a way to know who's running things at this point or who are we dealing with

when we talk about these negotiations?

Well, I would say that the best way to understand what's going on at the helm of the Islamic Republic

is to understand that this is now a zombie regime.

It is headless, yes, there's a quote unquote new supreme leader,

but he hasn't been seen, his likeness hasn't been seen,

nor has his voice been heard from since he's been appointed.

There's all these rumors that swirl from him being abroad or him being hospitalized or in a coma,

or simply just too afraid to come out or him being even lethally wounded.

In the absence of that, it basically is a hardened national security deep state,

a rump state of military and political elite, ultra-hardline, who are at the helm.

You have a new head of the IRGC who has an interpol notice against him,

a red notice against him for acts of terrorism in the past, particularly in Argentina in the 1990s,

at Madbahidi, you have a new general at the helm of the Supreme National Security Council,

General Zolghats, for example.

And then you have this character who reportedly the Trump administration has been in indirect contact with,

although he's denied it, which is Muhammad Bahraali-Baf,

the current head of the parliament, and a veteran of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,

former mayor of Tehran, and someone who served in a host of political and military positions,

and has been a veteran of the 1980-1988 Iran-eraq war.

And unfortunately, many in the West and even in Washington are confusing this general's ambition and opportunism for pragmatism and moderation.

And I think it would be a real mistake to call this a genuine change.

This is just more signs of the devolution. This is the body taking blows.

This is now a headless zombie that is intent on fighting.

And sometimes one hand may not know what the other hand is doing.

There's a lot more factions, a lot more stakes.

It's hard to say that so much of this is entirely coordinated, although the regime did plan for what would happen if there is a decapitation strike.

I think it behooves Washington to press on those fissures, rather than try to stabilize the body and triage it.

We are speaking with the Foundation for Defense of Democracy's senior director for its Iran program, Ben and Ben Taliblu,

as we discuss the end of the Islamic regime as the American and Israeli onslaught continues.

On the Fox News rundown, Operation Epic Fury, please like, subscribe, share this podcast. We'll have more straight ahead.

We go beyond the headlines, bringing you the stories you won't hear anywhere else.

Live coverage, sharp analysis, real perspective, at home or on the go.

Stay connected when it counts.

Stream Fox News on Fox 1, download today.

There is, and it's being well, I guess, discussed now that there is a sort of an information blackout about things coming out of Iran,

information going into Iran, information being exchanged within Iran.

And that has to do with the internet largely being cut off, either through the domestic means or interfering with signals for satellite-based internet.

And that has perhaps maybe led to the people in Iran not fully knowing that their government has been dispelled with.

Is there, how do we begin to address that matter?

At some point, as I think it's been expressed by both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu,

at some point the Iranian people need to take over here.

They need to become responsible for their destiny and do the final push out of whatever remains of this Islamic Republic.

How do they know to coordinate? Are they coordinating? Is anyone talking to them from the outside?

Well, certainly they are in contact with the ex-out opposition still through phone and internet.

I mean, it's amazing what the Rodins will say over the phone these days, both in the month of January when the internet was shut down during the three weeks of protest.

It was shut down for 20 days, as well as in the month of March during Operation Epic Fury,

where basically co-terminus with that, you've had an internet blackout for about 30 days now, if I'm not mistaken.

That doesn't mean some videos haven't slipped through. In fact, there's a few accounts, both on telegram and social media,

that have been posting some of the damages and some of the eyewitness accounts and things from not just to Iran,

but really across major urban centers in Iran, showing the damage, showing the way the war has impacted the ground,

showing the resolve and the resilience of the Iranian people.

Lots of these accounts still exist, although it's harder for them to be able to post in real time than ever before,

given the fact that it's Iranians themselves collecting and taking these videos in imagery and sending it out just so that the outside world can know what's going on.

Coordination amongst them, you know, the main thing that I hear and see from Iranians is anger, not fear.

Yes, they do fear this regime, but they're more angry with it than ever before.

And it really is, in my view, a matter of when, not if the next time they will take out into the streets,

but we can't have that be a suicide mission for simply the next generation of the best and the brightest and the bravest to once again go out unarmed and face, you know,

a multi-layered apparatus of repression that is too weak to win a war abroad, but is strong enough to crack skulls and kill unarmed people at home.

And there really does have to be thought given to this during the military campaign.

You know, blowing up a missile base in Yaz does nothing for the average protester in Tehran,

but consistently taking out besiege paramilitary in Tehran can begin to level the playing field.

And if this conflict is given the time to more appropriately level the playing field, if the lens is shifted, if the, you know,

the stakes are really offered to the American people that this is the most pro-American and most pro-Israeli people in the heartland of the Middle East,

that we simply happen to have being ruled over by the most anti-American and the most anti-Israeli,

perhaps the political support would be there to be able to go all the way.

And you know, make no mistake, Iranians have been trying to take their destiny in their own hands.

They simply have been outflanked and outgun time and time again by a regime that has not been afraid to kill Americans,

to kill Israelis, to kill Arabs, and to bring literally foreigners in as we saw in the month of January to kill their own population.

So I think, you know, no one goes out in the middle of a war to protest by the bombs are falling,

but there is both interest and coordination. We'll simply see how much interest and how much coordination.

Yeah. So it might be a fair assessment to say that the Iranians inside Iran are not buying the AI-generated images published by the IRGC

that Tehran looks fine and that Tel Aviv is rubbled and New York is burning and that American ships are sinking.

That stuff is non-Iranian state TV and one of the most troubling is a polite way to put it.

A series of videos I've seen out come out of Iran is the AI-generated Lego videos where all these Lego videos of Trump and BB and missiles

and even the bourgeois Arab hotel in Dubai getting hit with drones.

I mean, they've simply taken creativity to the next level and anti-Americanism and everything else to the next level here.

Into the 21st century, into the AI age, I'm sure this stuff is done to shore up that 10 to 15 percent of regime supporters

to make them feel resilient. I'm sure the vast swaths of Iranians see this and chuckle and push past it just like the vast swaths of Americans

or Westerners any other audience sees this and chuckles and pushes past it.

And that's because the Iranian people don't need the help of videos or guns and bombs or anything else

to be able to know that their government is illegitimate and uncapable.

You know, there's tons of jokes about the performance of the Islamic Republic starting back to the first Israeli-Iranian missile exchanges from April 2024

and you fast-forward straight through the 12-day war and even through this.

I mean, it is dark humor but it does show the resilience of the Iranian population.

And again, there is an information blackout but Iranians are simply waiting for the fog of war to dissipate for the guns and bombs

to start, just for the guns and bombs to stop falling to be able to try again.

But when they try again, they want to make sure that the playing field is as level as possible.

All right, Ben and Ben Talibu, you're the senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Thank you so much for being with us on the Fox News rundown.

Thank you. Pleasure.

You've been listening to the Fox News rundown.

And now, stay up to date by subscribing to this podcast at FoxNewsPodcasts.com.

Listen to AdFree on Fox News Podcasts plus on Apple Podcasts.

And, prime members can listen to the show AdFree on Amazon Music.

And for up to the minute news, go to FoxNews.com.

Everything goodness world, stop.

With mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month.

Of course, if you enjoy overpay no judgments, but that's weird.

Okay, one judgment.

Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.

A front payment of $45 per three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required.

Intro rate for three months only. Then full price plan options available.

Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.