‘Every shot fired’: Are Yemen’s Houthis a proxy force for Iran?

Iran’s Tehran continues to attack Yemen, causing serious injuries and harm to residents.

President Donald Trump declared he would hold Iran accountable for any attacks the group might have had on shipping in the Red Sea after ordering a bombing campaign against the Houthis, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 53 people since Saturday.

As a part of a regional “axis of resistance” against Israel and the United States, Iran and Yemen’s Houthi movement have long been partners.

However, it’s frequently up for debate about the relationship’s depth. Some view the Houthis as an independent, but friendly group, while others see them as Iranian proxy.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, stated on Friday that the Houthis act in their own interests and that there is no need for proxies.

US President Donald Trump is a member of the first camp, according to his recent comments.

Washington will interpret “every shot” the Houthis fired as an Iranian “shot that could have dire consequences,” he said.

Do Iran and the Houthis coexist peacefully? Or is it more nuanced? Take a closer look at this:

The Houthis are who?

The Houthis, a political and military movement that emerged in the 1990s and are formally known as Ansar Allah (believers of God), gained international recognition in 2014 when they oversaw Sanaa as the country’s capital.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, supported by the US, and the United Arab Emirates, among other things, militarily intervened against the Houthis after months of fighting with the Yemeni government and other forces.

However, Sanaa is still under the control of the group, and in fact, it has grown stronger in the last ten years.

The Houthis have launched direct missile and drone attacks on Israel to avert the end of its occupation of Gaza and attacked Israel-linked ships heading through the Red Sea.

What kind of military assistance does Iran provide to the Houthis?

Tehran has long supported the Yemeni armed group in the past, but it has disputed that it has directly provided it with advanced weapons.

The Houthis claim that they produce weapons domestically and that they have taken control of the weapons stockpiles that the government left behind when it fled south, making them the de facto state in Sanaa and Yemen’s densely populated northwest.

The organization has attempted to diversify its arms manufacturing sector, increasing domestic production while still relying heavily on imported components.

An Iranian-designed suicide drone crashed into Israel’s territory in July 2024, killing one person and injuring several others, according to Israel.

Iran was not in the loop, according to Houthi authorities, who claimed they had planned and carried out the strike themselves.

A panel of experts from the UN added that Iran and the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah provided training to the Houthis and that they “don’t have the capacity to develop and produce complex weapons systems without the support of foreigners.”

However, Western nations continue to claim that Iran has provided ballistic missiles, antiship cruise missiles, and a range of drones with its technology. They also assert that Houthi soldiers have been given military training by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In response to Moscow’s conflict in Ukraine, the US claims that the Houthis have also tried to purchase weapons and parts from Chinese companies while working to obtain antiship cruise missiles from Russia.

How diplomatically allying are Iran and the Houthis?

Houthi officials are frequently hosted by Iranian diplomats, and the Iranian state media lauds the organization as a significant member of the Tehran-led axis of resistance.

In the middle of what was hailed as the worst humanitarian crisis in history, Iran criticized coalition attacks on Yemen, which kept the two countries in constant contact during Yemen’s civil war.

In the wake of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top general and principal architect of the axis, being killed in the US in 2020, the Houthis increased their attacks on the coalition.

How similar are Iran’s and the Houthis’ ideologies?

The Houthis have been known to adopt a similar geopolitical rhetoric to Iran, support the Islamic Revolution’s principles, and have had a significant impact on their political outlook.

However, there are many ways the Houthis and the Iranian establishment differ.

The Houthis largely adhere to the Zaidi Shia Islam, which shares some similarities with but differs from the Twelver Shia Islam that is practiced in Iran.

The Houthis see themselves as a part of Yemen’s Zaidi tradition, which has been there for more than 1, 000 years, and have grown organically as a local movement rather than a global project.

Additionally, the group has established independent political and military goals, including preventing US and Israeli intervention in a Yemen that is unified.

Based on Yemeni grievances, particularly those involving air strikes and blockades that ravaged the local population, the Houthis have shown a willingness to attack Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

They have occasionally ignored Iranian advice, including when they unilaterally declared a ceasefire and held discussions with Saudi Arabia in 2019 when Tehran was viewed as favoring military support.

What’s going on now?

In the upcoming weeks or even months, Washington has indicated its intention to bomb Yemen.

Children and women have been killed in the countless airstrikes that have taken place in the country to date, along with Houthi fighters.

In protest of Israel’s blocking of all humanitarian aid from entering the enclave, the Houthis threatened to resume their strikes, which had stopped after the January 19 ceasefire in Gaza.

Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi promised to bring the military escalation to its highest level in a televised speech following Israel’s massacre of at least 436 Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday and continued brutal airstrikes.

The Harry S. Truman and its supporting warships have been the target of five rounds of missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthis.

They made it known that a missile had been launched towards Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel. The missile was intercepted, according to the Israeli military.

Iran has for its part warned against an outbreak of regional war if it is attacked.

Trump’s statements to the UN were also condemned in a letter sent to the Security Council this week by Iran’s delegation.

Source: Aljazeera