Summary:
On January 3, fourteen countries, including the U.S., issued a joint statement condemning the Houthi attacks on shipping and warning the Houthis that they will bear the consequences if the attacks continue. There are two potential outcomes: The first is a retreat by the Houthis. The second has two parts: a more concerted Houthi attack on U.S. or other Western warships in the Red Sea that encourages a decision by a U.S.-led subset of the coalition to carry out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. This would be a significant increase in military activity in the region and might invite a response by Iran. Many parties are working to avoid the second outcome as of this writing, but it is not a foregone conclusion.
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