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The Houthi rebels started as a relatively small and localized radical movement in Yemen but have since evolved into a significant player with broad regional (and currently global) consequences. What began as a religious revival has transformed into a full-fledged insurgency, one that has destabilized Yemen, drawn in foreign powers, and disrupted global trade. Their ambitions, their backers, and their impact made them a force that could not be ignored anymore.
Rebellion Turned Power Grab
The origins of the Houthis go back to the 90s, when Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi founded the movement to promote Zaydism, a branch of Shia Islam primarily found in northern Yemen. However, their objectives weren’t just religious. They portrayed themselves as fighters against corruption, Western influence, and the marginalization of their community by the Yemeni government. By 2004, things had escalated to outright conflict. The Yemeni government, under then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh, cracked down on the group, and Hussein al-Houthi was killed in the fighting. His brother, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, took over leadership and steered the movement toward even more aggressive political and military goals.
A decade later, in 2014, the Houthis took advantage of Yemen’s crumbling political apparatus and made their boldest move yet. They seized the capital, Sana’a. This wasn’t just another rebellion, it was a fully blown coup. They effectively overthrew the internationally recognized government, forcing President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee. This power grab turned Yemen into a battlefield for a larger geopolitical struggle, with Saudi Arabia leading a military coalition to counter the Houthis and restore Hadi’s government. The result? Years of war, tens of thousands dead, and a country in ruins.
The takeover of Sana’a was not only a military success but a political statement. The Houthis have since positioned themselves as an anti-Western, anti-Saudi force, using their newfound powers to establish a governance system under their control. Their rule has been characterized by crackdowns on dissent, arrests of political opponents, and increased repression of civil liberties, all while benefiting from an extensive war economy that sustains their operations.
Iran’s Influence & War By Proxy
What truly turned the conflict from a local civil war to a broader international crisis was Iran’s influence creeping from the shadows. The Houthis, whether by ideological alignment or strategic convenience, have aligned themselves with Tehran, making them a valuable tool in Iran’s regional power plays. Iran has supplied them with weapons, intelligence, and military training, allowing the Houthis to carry out long-range missile and drone attacks and often targeting Saudi Arabia and, more recently, global shipping routes.
By turning into an Iranian proxy, the Houthis have intensified regional sectarian divides and made Yemen a key battleground in the ongoing cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Their missile and drone attacks have disrupted oil facilities, struck civilian areas, and forced an international response. The Saudi-led coalition, backed by the United States and other Western powers, has waged an extensive air campaign against them. But despite years of bombings, the Houthis remain entrenched and capable of striking back.
Reports suggest that Iran’s support extends beyond mere weapons shipments. The Houthis have been trained by Iranian operatives and Lebanese Hezbollah, learning advanced military tactics and asymmetric warfare strategies. These developments have made them more than just a ragtag rebel group, they are now a well-equipped militia capable of mounting sophisticated attacks, further complicating efforts to neutralize them.
Maritime Threat
In late 2023, the Houthis took their acts of terror beyond Yemen’s borders in a way that had global repercussions. They began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes. The justification? They claimed to be acting in solidarity with Hamas during the Israel-Gaza war. But in reality, their actions directly threatened international trade, with major shipping companies forced to reroute their vessels at enormous cost.
These attacks weren’t just a nuisance; they posed a serious economic and security risk. The Red Sea is a crucial artery for global commerce, linking Europe to Asia. Any disruption there means higher costs for goods, delayed shipments, and increased instability in an already volatile region. Western nations, particularly the U.S. and U.K., were left with little choice but to respond militarily.
The maritime threat was not an accident. The Houthis have increasingly viewed global trade routes as legitimate targets, employing missile strikes, drones, and fast attack boats to harass commercial shipping. Their goal appears to be twofold: exact economic pain on their adversaries while asserting themselves as a regional power that can challenge the status quo. This escalation has drawn further international condemnation and placed the Houthis squarely in the crosshairs of Western military responses.
The U.S. Response
By 2025, with the situation spiraling, the Trump administration took decisive action. The U.S. military launched a series of airstrikes targeting Houthi positions in Yemen, aiming to re-establish deterrence and protect maritime security. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that these strikes were necessary to prevent further aggression and maintain stability in one of the world’s busiest waterways.
However, the execution of these strikes wasn’t without controversy. In a bizarre turn of events, Hegseth reportedly included journalist Jeffrey Goldberg in a confidential group chat discussing the attacks. This accidental leak exposed sensitive details about the operation and led to an embarrassing situation for the administration. Trump brushed off the blunder, calling it a “technical issue,” but the damage had already been done.
The U.S. strikes marked a shift in how the West engages with the Houthis. Previously, airstrikes had largely been left to the Saudi-led coalition, but direct U.S. military involvement signals a more aggressive posture. The Trump administration’s message was clear: if the Houthis continued to threaten international shipping, they would face direct consequences.
Yemen’s Humanitarian Catastrophe
Beyond the military and political maneuvering, the war in Yemen has created one of the worst humanitarian crises of the modern era. Millions of Yemenis are on the brink of famine, with diseases like cholera spreading unchecked. While multiple parties share responsibility for the suffering—including the Saudi-led coalition’s bombings and blockades—the Houthis have played a major role in prolonging the conflict.
They have refused to negotiate in good faith on multiple occasions, used starvation as a weapon by blocking aid deliveries, and carried out human rights abuses in areas they control. Their governance in northern Yemen has been marked by repression, forced conscription of children, and suppression of dissent. The Houthis have shown time and again that their priority is power, not the well-being of the people they claim to represent.
Furthermore, the international community’s response has been inconsistent, with humanitarian aid often failing to reach those most in need due to Houthi interference. The rebels have also reportedly looted aid shipments and repurposed supplies for their war effort, worsening the suffering of the civilian population.
The Bigger Picture
The Houthis are no longer just a Yemeni insurgency. In a matter of years they have managed to become a destabilizing factor on the global stage. Their ties to Iran, their attacks on international trade, and their role in Yemen’s devastation make them a major player in Middle Eastern geopolitics. While their resilience has made them difficult to dislodge, their actions have also ensured that they remain a target for military and diplomatic pressure.
Having all this in mind, any resolution to Yemen’s crisis will require either neutralizing the Houthis’ military capabilities or forcing them into serious negotiations. Neither option will be easy, but ignoring the problem is clearly not an option anymore. The world has seen what happens when the Houthis are left unchecked, and the cost of their actions continues to rise.