Mohammed Elmasri, a professor in the Media Studies program at the Doha Graduate School, stated that the Houthi rebels' ability to capture and hold the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha demonstrates their "powerful combat capabilities" developed in recent years. "I think this fighting force is probably more advanced than the adversaries Saudi Arabia faced a decade ago," Elmasri said. He added that the Houthis "not only possess very good ground fighters, but have also acquired weapons from Iran over the past few years, possess air defense capabilities, and have an impressive arsenal of missiles and drones." He said, "I think this advance demonstrates the Houthis' powerful combat capabilities; in fact, it is the government forces that are suffering setbacks." The professor pointed out that the Houthis are taking advantage of the region's "lack of attention" due to the US-Israeli conflict against Iran to launch their offensive. Elmasri also stated that although the Houthis receive strong support from Iran, "they cannot be called puppets of the Iranian government. They have their own national demands and their own civil war independent of the situation in Iran."
