Mona Yacoubian
CSIS senior fellow who warned Houthis could target Red Sea shipping if the Hormuz blockade tightens.
Last refreshed: 15 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
If the Houthis hit Red Sea shipping again, does Saudi Arabia have a plan beyond Petroline?
Timeline for Mona Yacoubian
Warned Houthis could engage Red Sea shipping if blockade tightens
Iran Conflict 2026: Riyadh asks Washington to end blockade- What did Mona Yacoubian say about the Houthis and the Hormuz blockade?
- CSIS analyst Mona Yacoubian warned on 14 April 2026 that the Houthis 'could engage on Red Sea shipping' if the US Hormuz blockade tightens, raising the risk of a second maritime pressure point.Source: Wall Street Journal / CSIS
- Could the Houthis attack Red Sea shipping again in 2026?
- CSIS analyst Mona Yacoubian warned this was a real risk if the Hormuz blockade tightened, while Yemen scholar Elisabeth Kendall described Houthi restraint as 'strategic patience, not avoidance.'Source: Wall Street Journal / CSIS
- Who is Mona Yacoubian at CSIS?
- Mona Yacoubian is a CSIS senior fellow focused on the Middle East, formerly at the US State Department and USAID, known for analysis of Lebanon, Yemen, and Arab political transitions.
Background
Mona Yacoubian is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, where she focuses on the Middle East and North Africa. In commentary cited in Wall Street Journal reporting on 14 April 2026, she warned that the Houthis in Yemen "could engage on Red Sea shipping" if the US Hormuz blockade tightens, flagging the risk that Saudi Arabia's southern flank could become a second pressure point in the Iran conflict. Her analysis formed part of the context for reporting on Saudi Arabia pressing Washington to lift the blockade and return to negotiations.
Yacoubian previously served at the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), focusing on the Middle East. At CSIS she has written extensively on Lebanon, Yemen, and broader political transitions across the Arab world. Her work sits in the analyst-practitioner tradition common to Washington think tanks: part academic, part policy advisory, regularly cited in government deliberations and Major news publications.
Her warning about Houthi engagement on Red Sea shipping is significant because it triangulates three overlapping risks: the blockade's potential to provoke Houthi retaliation, Saudi Arabia's vulnerability at the Bab al-Mandeb, and the risk that the Iran crisis metastasises from the Gulf into the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia had, by mid-April, already seen the Petroline pipeline restored to 7 mbpd as a partial hedge against Hormuz disruption, but Bab al-Mandeb exposure remained an unresolved vulnerability.
