On April 13, Iran unleashed an unprecedented drone and missile attack against Israel. This follows the brutal terrorist attack by Iran-sponsored Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, and arming the Houthi Rebels in Yemen to function as long-range pirates in the Red Sea. Since November, the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 40 attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, effectively choking off the Bab al-Mandab Strait and shutting down the Suez Canal. They did this by using armed drones, fast attack craft, guided missiles, and other armament provided to it by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

For Episode 31 of the Border Wars Podcast, we sit down with Erik Prince, the founder of the private security company Blackwater and more recent co-founder of Unplugged, a secure software and smartphone, to explain how the Houthi-style long-range piracy tactics are coming to the Caribbean courtesy of Iran and Venezuela. We discuss how an impending conflict between Venezuela and Guyana, over a disputed border territory called the Essequibo, is an extension of Iran's proxy wars in the Middle East with the backing of Russia and China.