Biden and The Houthi Quagmire

The Biden administration has been hit with a wave of criticism following the secret meeting between the Americans and Iranians in Oman, where they discussed the Houthi escalation in the Red Sea.
Much of the criticism, which has focused on its lax approach to the Iranians, is justified. This has indeed been a problem for a while now, dating back to Barack Obama’s time in office. However, is opening secret channels with the enemy, whoever it may be, a mistake? Certainly not. Negotiations are typically held to avoid wars, and they are part and parcel of politics.
Nonetheless, the criticism of the Biden administration is warranted. Washington’s excessive leniency with the Houthis has damaged its credibility in Yemen itself and in all the Gulf states, without exception.
Washington has also been too tolerant of the actions of Tehran and its militias. This approach has come at the expense of the region's countries. Particularly notable in this regard is the administration’s decision to remove the Houthis from its terrorist list. It also protected them and allowed them to survive by exerting political and diplomatic pressure on the Arab coalition.
Washington exploited human rights issues opportunistically, undermining the credibility of the notion of human rights, which we see no trace of in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Washington also delayed the delivery of arms to Saudi Arabia and its allies, preventing them from taking the port of Hodeidah.
The Biden administration turned a blind eye to Iran's role in financing, training, and arming the Houthis, as well as the Hezbollah officials sent to Yemen. It also overlooked Iran's destructive propaganda and political interference in Yemen.
Now, the US and British forces have started bombing the Houthis, albeit timidly, the Houthis have been redesignated a terrorist group, and Washington has been talking about Iran's destructive role in the region. However, instead of supporting Yemen's legitimacy, the US negotiated with Iran in Oman!
Negotiation was predictable, as the US has no strategy for how to deal with Iran and its militias. What we could call Washington's confused (if we give it the benefit of the doubt) approach, has convinced Tehran that its militias are an asset that can bring the US to the negotiating table. The simplest example is that there have been no attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since the 4th of February.
The Financial Times quoted an Iranian official saying that, in a meeting in Baghdad, Quds Force Commander Brigadier General Esmail Qaani told the Iraqi militias to avoid taking actions that could push the US to attack Iran. Accordingly, Washington has sought Tehran's help with the Houthis.
But the situation in Yemen is now more complicated, Naguib Ghalab, Deputy Minister of Yemen's Ministry of Information, tells me. He believes that the Houthis are exploiting the current maritime navigation crisis to carry out military action against the legitimate government. His claims were confirmed by the UN envoy.
The UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, has said that “With more interests at play, the parties to the conflict in Yemen are more likely to shift calculations and alter their negotiation agendas. In a worst-case scenario, the parties could decide to engage in risky military adventurism that propels Yemen back into a new cycle of war.”
If a war were indeed to break out, and maritime navigation continues to be targeted, the Houthi quagmire would remain a significant and complex problem for the Biden administration. The crisis neglected yesterday cannot be resolved through secret negotiations alone today. Here lies the quagmire for the Biden administration, which few in the region have any sympathy for.