:Houthis

{{see also|History of Yemen|Houthi insurgency in Yemen|Houthi takeover in Yemen}}

File:Houthi_movement_(orthographic_projection).svg shown in dark green]]

According to Ahmed Addaghashi, a professor at Sanaa University, the Houthis began as a moderate theological movement that preached tolerance and held a broad-minded view of all the Yemeni peoples.{{cite news|author=Al Batati, Saeed|title=Who are the Houthis in Yemen?|newspaper=Al Jazeera|date=21 August 2014|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/yemen-houthis-hadi-protests-201482132719818986.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823035209/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/yemen-houthis-hadi-protests-201482132719818986.html |archive-date=23 August 2014|url-status=dead}} Their first organization, "the Believing Youth" (BY), was founded in 1992 in Saada Governorate{{cite journal|last1=Freeman|first1=Jack|title=The al Houthi Insurgency in the North of Yemen: An Analysis of the Shabab al Moumineen|journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism|volume=32|issue=11|year=2009|pages=1008–1019|issn=1057-610X|doi=10.1080/10576100903262716|s2cid=110465618}}{{rp|1008}} by either Mohammed al-Houthi,{{cite web|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_MG962.pdf|title=Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: The Huthi Phenomenon|publisher=RAND|year=2010|access-date=23 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106115042/http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_MG962.pdf|archive-date=6 January 2012|url-status=live}}{{rp|98}} or his brother Hussein al-Houthi.{{cite news|title=Yemen's Abd-al-Malik al-Houthi|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/monitoring/yemens-abd-almalik-alhouthi|date=3 October 2014|access-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302202714/http://www.bbc.co.uk/monitoring/yemens-abd-almalik-alhouthi|archive-date=2 March 2015|url-status=live}}

The Believing Youth established school clubs and summer camps{{rp|98}} in order to "promote a Zaydi revival" in Saada. By 1994–95, between 15,000 and 20,000 students had attended BY summer camps. The religious material included lectures by Mohammed Hussein Fadhlallah (a Lebanese Shia scholar) and Hassan Nasrallah (Secretary General of Hezbollah).{{rp|99}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thenational.scot/world/profile-the-crisis-in-yemen.1317|title=Profile: The crisis in Yemen|work=thenational.scot|date=23 March 2015 |access-date=11 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415141147/http://www.thenational.scot/world/profile-the-crisis-in-yemen.1317|archive-date=15 April 2015|url-status=live}}

The formation of the Houthi organisations has been described by Adam Baron of the European Council on Foreign Relations as a reaction to foreign intervention. Their views include shoring up Zaydi support against the perceived threat of Saudi-influenced ideologies in Yemen and a general condemnation of the former Yemeni government's alliance with the United States, which, along with complaints regarding the government's corruption and the marginalisation of much of the Houthis' home areas in Saada, constituted the group's key grievances.{{cite news|author=Adam Baron|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/yemen-intervention-116396.html|title=What Went Wrong with Yemen|date=25 March 2015|access-date=18 September 2015|work=Politico|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150812213233/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/yemen-intervention-116396.html|archive-date=12 August 2015|url-status=live}}

Although Hussein al-Houthi, who was killed in 2004, had no official relation with Believing Youth (BY), according to Zaid, he contributed to the radicalisation of some Zaydis after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. BY-affiliated youth adopted anti-American and anti-Israel slogans, which they chanted in the Al Saleh Mosque in Sanaa after Friday prayers. According to Zaid, the followers of Houthi's insistence on chanting the slogans attracted the authorities' attention, further increasing government worries over the extent of the Houthi movement's influence. "The security authorities thought that if today the Houthis chanted 'Death to America', tomorrow they could be chanting 'Death to the president [of Yemen]{{'"}}.{{cite web |title=Yemen: The conflict in Saada Governorate - analysis |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-conflict-saada-governorate-analysis |website=ReliefWeb |access-date=3 June 2025 |date=24 July 2008}}

In 2004, 800 BY supporters were arrested in Sanaa. President Ali Abdullah Saleh then invited Hussein al-Houthi to a meeting in Sanaa, but Hussein declined. On 18 June, Saleh sent government forces to arrest Hussein. Hussein responded by launching an insurgency against the central government but was killed on 10 September. The insurgency continued intermittently until a ceasefire agreement was reached in 2010. During this prolonged conflict, the Yemeni army and air force were used to suppress the Houthi rebellion in northern Yemen. The Saudis joined these anti-Houthi campaigns, but the Houthis won against both Saleh and the Saudi army. According to the Brookings Institution, this particularly humiliated the Saudis, who spent tens of billions of dollars on their military.{{cite news |last=Riedel |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Riedel |date=18 December 2017 |title=Who are the Houthis, and why are we at war with them? |work=Brookings Institution |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/12/18/who-are-the-houthis-and-why-are-we-at-war-with-them/ |url-status=live |access-date=2018-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163411/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/12/18/who-are-the-houthis-and-why-are-we-at-war-with-them/ |archive-date=12 June 2018}}

The Houthis participated in the 2011 Yemeni Revolution, as well as the ensuing National Dialogue Conference (NDC).{{cite web |title=The Huthis: From Saada to Sanaa |series=Middle East Report N°154 |publisher=International Crisis Group |date=10 June 2014 |url=http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/iraq-iran-gulf/yemen/154-the-huthis-from-saada-to-sanaa.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409032931/http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/iraq-iran-gulf/yemen/154-the-huthis-from-saada-to-sanaa.aspx |archive-date=9 April 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=29 November 2014}} However, they rejected the provisions of the November 2011 Gulf Cooperation Council deal on the ground that "it divide[d] Yemen into poor and wealthy regions" and also in response to assassination of their representative at NDC.{{cite news|title=Yemen Al Houthi rebels slam federation plan as unfair|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-al-houthi-rebels-slam-federation-plan-as-unfair-1.1289512|access-date=16 March 2014|newspaper=Gulf News|date=11 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312050925/http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemen-al-houthi-rebels-slam-federation-plan-as-unfair-1.1289512|archive-date=12 March 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=al-Hassani|first=Mohammed|title=Houthi Spokesperson Talks to the Yemen Times |url=http://www.yementimes.com/en/1753/intreview/3454/Houthi-spokesperson-talks-to-the-Yemen-Times.htm|access-date=16 March 2014|newspaper=Yemen Times|date=6 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316103201/http://yementimes.com/en/1753/intreview/3454/Houthi-spokesperson-talks-to-the-Yemen-Times.htm|archive-date=16 March 2014|url-status=dead}}

As the revolution went on, Houthis gained control of greater territory. By 9 November 2011, Houthis were said to be in control of two Yemeni governorates (Saada and Al Jawf) and close to taking over a third governorate (Hajjah),{{cite news |title=Houthis Close to Control Hajjah Governorate, Amid Expectations of Expansion of Control over Large Parts of Northern Yemen |work=Islam Times |date=29 November 2011 |url=http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcirrazyt1azq2.ilct.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405064347/http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcirrazyt1azq2.ilct.html |archive-date=5 April 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=9 November 2011 }} which would enable them to launch a direct assault on the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.{{cite news|title=Al-Houthi Expansion Plan in Yemen Revealed|newspaper=Yemen Post |date=9 November 2011 |url=http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=4288&MainCat=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109115052/http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=4288&MainCat=3 |archive-date=9 November 2011}} In May 2012, it was reported that the Houthis controlled a majority of Saada, Al Jawf, and Hajjah governorates; they had also gained access to the Red Sea and started erecting barricades north of Sanaa in preparation for more conflict.{{cite news|url=http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10022057.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919191535/http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10022057.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=19 September 2012|title=New war with al-Houthis is looming|work=Yemen observer|access-date=23 January 2013}}

File:President Ali Abdullah Saleh.jpg was allied with Houthis from 2014 until his death in 2017. The Houthis assassinated him on charges of treason.]]

By September 2014, Houthis were said to control parts of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, including government buildings and a radio station.{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/houthis-control-government-buildings-sanaa-2014921141611393880.html|title=Houthis seize government buildings in Sanaa|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=21 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922084435/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/houthis-control-government-buildings-sanaa-2014921141611393880.html|archive-date=22 September 2014|url-status=live}} While Houthi control expanded to the rest of Sanaa, as well as other towns such as Rada', this control was strongly challenged by Al-Qaeda. The Gulf States believed that the Houthis had accepted aid from Iran while Saudi Arabia was aiding their Yemeni rivals.{{cite news|author1=Kareem Fahim|title=Violence Grows in Yemen as Al Qaeda Tries to Fight Its Way Back|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/world/violence-grows-in-yemen-as-al-qaeda-tries-to-fight-its-way-back.html|access-date=8 January 2015|work=The New York Times|date=7 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108151459/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/world/violence-grows-in-yemen-as-al-qaeda-tries-to-fight-its-way-back.html|archive-date=8 January 2015|url-status=live}}

On 20 January 2015, Houthi rebels seized the presidential palace in the capital. President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi was in the presidential palace during the takeover but was not harmed.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-30903516|title=Yemen Houthi rebels 'seize presidential palace'|work=BBC News|date=20 January 2015|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528095042/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-30903516|archive-date=28 May 2018|url-status=live}} The movement officially took control of the Yemeni government on 6 February, dissolving parliament and declaring its Revolutionary Committee to be the acting authority in Yemen. On 20 March the al-Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques came under suicide attack during midday prayers, and the Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility. The blasts killed 142 Houthi worshippers and wounded more than 351, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Yemen's history.{{cite news|title=Death toll hits 142 from attacks in Yemen mosques|date=20 March 2015|newspaper=Al Bawaba|url=http://www.albawaba.com/news/two-mosques-yemen-attacked-suicide-bombers-during-friday-prayers-many-injured-671470|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322235853/http://www.albawaba.com/news/two-mosques-yemen-attacked-suicide-bombers-during-friday-prayers-many-injured-671470|archive-date=22 March 2015|url-status=live}}

On 27 March 2015, in response to perceived Houthi threats to Sunni factions in the region, Saudi Arabia along with Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan led a gulf coalition airstrike in Yemen.{{cite news|title=Saudi 'Decisive Storm' waged to save Yemen|date=26 March 2015|newspaper=Al Arabiya News|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/26/GCC-states-to-repel-Houthi-aggression-in-Yemen-statement-.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327054325/http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/26/GCC-states-to-repel-Houthi-aggression-in-Yemen-statement-.html|archive-date=27 March 2015|url-status=live}} The military coalition included the United States which helped in planning of airstrikes, as well as logistical and intelligence support.{{cite news|title=U.S. Backs Saudi-Led Yemeni Bombing With Logistics, Spying|newspaper=Bloomberg News|author=Keane, Angela Greiling|date=26 March 2015|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-26/yemeni-bombing-led-by-saudis-is-backed-by-u-s-logistics-spying|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092715/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-26/yemeni-bombing-led-by-saudis-is-backed-by-u-s-logistics-spying|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=live}} The US Navy has actively participated in the Saudi-led naval blockade of Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen,[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/04/20/carrier-intercepts-iranian-arms/26082755/ "U.S. carrier moving off the coast of Yemen to block Iranian arms shipments"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225101926/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/04/20/carrier-intercepts-iranian-arms/26082755/ |date=25 December 2019 }}. USA Today. 20 April 2015. which humanitarian organizations argue has been the main contributing factor to the outbreak of famine in Yemen.{{cite news |last=McKernan |first=Bethan |date=7 November 2018 |title=Battle rages in Yemen's vital port as showdown looms |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/07/yemen-hodeidah-airstrikes-saudi-led-coalition-ceasefire-calls |quote=The port has been blockaded by the Saudi-led coalition for the past three years, a decision aid organizations say has been the main contributing factor to the famine that threatens to engulf half of Yemen's 28 million population. |access-date=12 January 2024 |archive-date=7 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107073244/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/07/yemen-hodeidah-airstrikes-saudi-led-coalition-ceasefire-calls |url-status=live }}

The four-month long Battle of Aden (2015) occurred between 25 March 2015 and 22 July.

According to a 2015 September report by Esquire magazine, the Houthis, once the outliers, are now one of the most stable and organised social and political movements in Yemen. The power vacuum created by Yemen's uncertain transitional period has drawn more supporters to the Houthis. Many of the formerly powerful parties, now disorganised with an unclear vision, have fallen out of favour with the public, making the Houthis—under their newly branded Ansar Allah name—all the more attractive.

Houthi spokesperson Mohamed Abdel Salam stated that his group had spotted messages between the UAE and Saleh three months before his death. He told Al-Jazeera that there was communication between Saleh, UAE and a number of other countries such as Russia and Jordan through encrypted messages.{{cite web|url=http://alkhaleejonline.net/articles/1512415225521026500/الحوثيون-رصدنا-رسائل-بين-صالح-وأبوظبي-قبل-3-شهور/|title=الحوثيون: رصدنا رسائل بين صالح وأبوظبي قبل 3 شهور|date=4 December 2017|access-date=5 December 2017|publisher=Al Khaleej|language=ar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615111140/http://alkhaleejonline.net/articles/1512415225521026500/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B1%D8%B5%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%84-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD-%D9%88%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B8%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D9%82%D8%A8%D9%84-3-%D8%B4%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1/|archive-date=15 June 2018|url-status=live}} The alliance between Saleh and the Houthi broke down in late 2017,{{cite news|last1=Edroos|first1=Faisal|title=How did Yemen's Houthi-Saleh alliance collapse?|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/yemen-houthi-saleh-alliance-collapse-171204070831956.html|access-date=4 December 2017|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519214826/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/yemen-houthi-saleh-alliance-collapse-171204070831956.html|archive-date=19 May 2019|url-status=live}} with armed clashes occurring in Sanaa from 28 November.{{cite web|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/violence-escalates-sanaa-saleh-loyalists-battle-houthis/|title=Violence escalates in Sanaa as Saleh loyalists battle Houthis|date=2 December 2017|access-date=2 December 2017|author=Leith Fadel|publisher=Al Masdar News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519120403/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/violence-escalates-sanaa-saleh-loyalists-battle-houthis/|archive-date=19 May 2019|url-status=dead}}

Saleh declared the split in a televised statement on 2 December, calling on his supporters to take back the country[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X11lC8BDI44&lc=z22ojlzyepngupa04acdp433zvtxdtdhhktlzvwbsr1w03c010c.1512423183560266 Yemen: Conflict intensifies between former rebel allies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225223944/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X11lC8BDI44&lc=z22ojlzyepngupa04acdp433zvtxdtdhhktlzvwbsr1w03c010c.1512423183560266 |date=25 December 2019 }}, 0:24, Al Jazeera English (3 December 2017) and expressed openness to a dialogue with the Saudi-led coalition. On 4 December 2017, Saleh's house in Sanaa was assaulted by fighters of the Houthi movement, according to residents.{{cite news|title=Yemen's Houthis blow up ex-president Saleh's house|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-security-house/yemens-houthis-blow-up-ex-president-salehs-house-idUKKBN1DY15Y|access-date=4 December 2017|work=Reuters|date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125000314/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-yemen-security-house/yemens-houthis-blow-up-ex-president-salehs-house-idUKKBN1DY15Y|archive-date=25 November 2018|url-status=dead}} Saleh was killed by the Houthis on the same day.{{cite news|title=Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh killed trying to flee Sanaa|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/04/middleeast/yemen-former-president-ali-abdullah-saleh-killed-intl/index.html|access-date=4 December 2017|publisher=CNN|date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211225323/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/04/middleeast/yemen-former-president-ali-abdullah-saleh-killed-intl/index.html|archive-date=11 December 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Yemen's ex-president Saleh shot dead after switching sides in civil war|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security/yemens-ex-president-saleh-shot-dead-after-switching-sides-in-civil-war-idUSKBN1DY12V|access-date=4 December 2017|work=Reuters|date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204171345/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security/yemens-ex-president-saleh-shot-dead-after-switching-sides-in-civil-war-idUSKBN1DY12V|archive-date=4 December 2017|url-status=live}}

In January 2021, the United States designated the Houthis a terrorist organization, creating fears of an aid shortage in Yemen,{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/11/us-designation-of-yemen-houthis-as-terrorists-will-worsen-humanitarian-crisis|title= 'Diplomatic vandalism': aid groups' fury as US puts Houthis on terror list|work= The Guardian|date= 11 January 2021|access-date= 11 January 2021|archive-date= 11 January 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210111113404/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/11/us-designation-of-yemen-houthis-as-terrorists-will-worsen-humanitarian-crisis|url-status= live|last1= McKernan|first1= Bethan}} but this stance was reversed a month later after Joe Biden became president.{{cite web |author1=Nick Schifrin |author2=Ali Rogin |title=In foreign policy shift, Biden lifts terrorist designation for Houthis in Yemen |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-foreign-policy-shift-biden-lifts-terrorist-designation-for-houthis-in-yemen |publisher=PBS |access-date=12 April 2021 |date=16 February 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412202852/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-foreign-policy-shift-biden-lifts-terrorist-designation-for-houthis-in-yemen |url-status=live }} On 17 January 2022, Houthi missile and drone attacks on UAE industrial targets set fuel trucks on fire and killed three foreign workers. This was the first specific attack to which the Houthi admitted, and the first to result in deaths.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-60082786|title=Yemen rebel attack on UAE throws challenge to the region|last=Marcus|first=Jonathan|work=BBC|date=22 January 2022|access-date=23 January 2022|archive-date=23 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123031552/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-60082786|url-status=live}} A response led by Saudi Arabia included a 21 January air strike on a detention centre in Yemen, resulting in at least 70 deaths.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-60082788|title=Scores killed in Yemen prison air strike carnage|work=BBC|date=21 January 2022|access-date=23 January 2022|archive-date=17 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317134931/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-60082788|url-status=live}}

Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Houthis began to fire missiles at Israel and to attack ships off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea, which they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians and aiming to facilitate entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.{{Cite news |date=20 October 2023 |title=US warship intercepts missiles fired from Yemen 'potentially towards Israel' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67166863 |access-date=31 October 2023 |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718015902/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67166863 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Mannes |first1=Marie |last2=Saul |first2=Jonathan |last3=Baertline |first3=Lisa |date=2023-12-19 |title=Companies rush to avert disruption from Red Sea attacks as shipping rates rise |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/electrolux-readies-alternative-routes-after-red-sea-attacks-2023-12-19/ |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=Reuters}}{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/12/12/who-are-the-houthis-the-group-attacking-ships-in-the-red-sea|title=Who are the Houthis, the group attacking ships in the Red Sea?|date=12 December 2023|accessdate=2 January 2024|newspaper=The Economist|quote=Since the bombardment of Gaza began, the Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group, have launched a series of attacks on cargo ships. The insurgents, who are backed by Iran, say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians. They have threatened to attack any ship bound for or leaving Israel without delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.|archive-date=1 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101234442/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/12/12/who-are-the-houthis-the-group-attacking-ships-in-the-red-sea|url-status=live}} On 31 October Houthi forces launched ballistic missiles at Israel, which were shot down by Israel's Arrow missile defense system. Israeli officials claimed that this was the first ever combat to occur in space.{{cite news |title=The deadly missile race in the Middle East |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/11/07/the-deadly-missile-race-in-the-middle-east |access-date=8 November 2023 |newspaper=The Economist |date=7 November 2023 |archive-date=8 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108001801/https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/11/07/the-deadly-missile-race-in-the-middle-east |url-status=live }} In order to end the attacks in the Red Sea,{{cite news |title=By bombing Yemen, the west risks repeating its own mistakes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/12/yemen-houthi-militia-israel-gaza-red-sea |work=The Guardian |date=12 January 2024 |access-date=14 January 2024 |archive-date=14 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114171527/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/12/yemen-houthi-militia-israel-gaza-red-sea |url-status=live }} the Houthis demanded a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.{{cite news |title=Yemen's Houthis say Red Sea attacks do not threaten peace with Riyadh |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/yemens-houthis-say-un-resolution-navigation-red-sea-is-political-game-2024-01-11/ |work=Reuters |date=11 January 2024}} In January 2024, the United States and the United Kingdom conducted airstrikes against multiple Houthi targets in Yemen.{{cite news |title=Who are the Houthis and how did the US and UK strikes on Yemen come about? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/12/yemen-houthi-rebels-who-are-they-what-attacking-us-uk-airstrikes-red-sea-crisis |work=The Guardian |date=12 January 2024}}

File:Ansar Allah fighters.jpg

There is a difference between the al-Houthi family{{rp|102}} and the Houthi movement. The movement was called by their opponents and foreign media "Houthis". The name came from the surname of the early leader of the movement, Hussein al-Houthi, who died in 2004.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/houthis-yemen-war-saudi-arabia-why-who-gulf-islam-conflict-a8627021.html|title=Yemen war: Who are the Houthis and why is Saudi Arabia fighting them?|publisher=independent.co.uk|access-date=29 April 2021|archive-date=17 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117130536/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/houthis-yemen-war-saudi-arabia-why-who-gulf-islam-conflict-a8627021.html|url-status=live}}

Membership of the group had between 1,000 and 3,000 fighters as of 2005Philips, Sarah (28 July 2005). [http://www.merip.org/mero/mero072805.html Cracks in the Yemeni System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927020753/http://www.merip.org/mero/mero072805.html |date=27 September 2011 }}. Middle East Report Online. and between 2,000 and 10,000 fighters as of 2009.{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14920092|newspaper=The Economist|title=Pity those caught in the middle|date=19 November 2009|access-date=20 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211063314/http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14920092|archive-date=11 February 2010|url-status=live}} In 2010, the Yemen Post claimed that they had over 100,000 fighters.{{cite news|author=Almasmari, Hakim|title=Editorial: Thousands Expected to die in 2010 in Fight against Al-Qaeda|date=10 April 2010|newspaper=Yemen Post|url=http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=1749&MainCat=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303112426/http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=1749&MainCat=2|archive-date=3 March 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=22 January 2010}} According to Houthi expert Ahmed Al-Bahri, by 2010, the Houthis had a total of 100,000–120,000 followers, including both armed fighters and unarmed loyalists.[http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=1723&MainCat=4 Ahmed Al-Bahri: Expert in Houthi Affairs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329130715/http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=1723&MainCat=4 |date=29 March 2012 }}, 10 April 2010. As of 2015, the group is reported to have attracted new supporters from outside their traditional demographics.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/12/yemen-houthis-send-children-battle|title=Yemen: Houthis Send Children into Battle|date=12 May 2015|access-date=15 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826075740/https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/12/yemen-houthis-send-children-battle|archive-date=26 August 2016|url-status=live}}

File:Yemen ethno 2002.jpg

The Houthi movement follows a mixed ideology with religious, Yemeni nationalist, and big tent-populist elements, imitating Hezbollah. Outsiders have argued that the group's ideological tenets are often vague and self-contradictory and that many of its slogans do not accurately reflect its aims.{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/who-are-yemens-houthis |title=Who are Yemen's Houthis? |publisher=PBS |work=NewsHour |date=14 December 2018 |access-date=12 February 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208022406/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/who-are-yemens-houthis |url-status=live }} According to American historian Bernard Haykel, the movement's founder, Hussein al-Houthi, was influenced by a variety of religious traditions and political ideologies, making it difficult to fit him or his followers into existing categories.{{sfn|Haykel|2022|pp=20–21}} The Houthis have portrayed themselves as a national resistance force, defending all Yemenis from outside aggression and influences, as champions against corruption, chaos, and extremism, and as representatives for the interests of marginalized tribal groups and the Zayidi sect.

Haykel argues that the Houthi movement has two central religious-ideological tenets. The first is the "Quranic Way", which encompasses the belief that the Quran does not allow for interpretation and contains everything needed to improve Muslim society. The second is the belief in the absolute, divine right of Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophet's descendants) to rule,{{sfn|Haykel|2022|pp=21–24}} a belief attributed to Jaroudism, a fundamentalist offshoot of Zaydism.{{Cite news|last=Al-Dawsari|first=Nadwa|date=21 Dec 2017|title=The Houthis' endgame in Yemen|work=Al Jazeera|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/12/21/the-houthis-endgame-in-yemen/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109010557/https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/12/21/the-houthis-endgame-in-yemen/|archive-date=9 November 2020}}

The group has also exploited the popular discontent over corruption and the reduction of government subsidies. According to a February 2015 Newsweek report, Houthis are fighting "for things that all Yemenis crave: government accountability, the end to corruption, regular utilities, fair fuel prices, job opportunities for ordinary Yemenis and the end of Western influence".{{cite news|title=Photo Essay: The Rise of the Houthis|url=http://www.newsweek.com/photo-essay-rise-houthis-305511|newspaper=Newsweek|date=9 February 2015|access-date=17 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112215529/http://www.newsweek.com/photo-essay-rise-houthis-305511|archive-date=12 November 2017|url-status=live}} In forming alliances, the Houthi movement has been at times opportunistic, partnering with countries it later declared as enemies, including the United States.

In general, the Houthi movement has centered its belief system on the Zaydi branch of Islam,{{efn|The Houthis have been accused, even by many fellow Zaydis, of secretly being converts or followers of the Twelver sect, which is the official religion of Iran.{{cite news|author1=Manuel Almeida|title=Profile: Who are Yemen's Houthis?|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/profiles/2014/10/08/Profile-Who-are-Yemen-s-Houthis-.html|access-date=2 February 2015|publisher=Al Arabiya |date=8 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202153920/http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/profiles/2014/10/08/Profile-Who-are-Yemen-s-Houthis-.html|archive-date=2 February 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite book|editor1-last=Bengio|editor1-first=Ofra|editor2-last=Litvak|editor2-first=Meir|title=The Sunna and Shi'a in History: Division and Ecumenism in the Muslim Middle East|date=8 November 2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9780230370739|page=244}}}} a sect almost exclusively present in Yemen.{{cite news |author=Al-Shamahi, Abubakr |title=Yemen is more nuanced than 'Sunni' & 'Shia' |date=7 February 2014 |newspaper=Yemen Times |url=http://www.yementimes.com/en/1759/opinion/3540/Yemen-is-more-nuanced-than-%E2%80%98Sunni%E2%80%99-amp;%C2%A0%E2%80%98Shia%E2%80%99.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102062350/http://www.yementimes.com/en/1759/opinion/3540/Yemen-is-more-nuanced-than-%E2%80%98Sunni%E2%80%99-amp%3B%C2%A0%E2%80%98Shia%E2%80%99.htm |archive-date=2 January 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=2 February 2015 }} Zaydis form about 25% of the population, with Sunnis comprising the other 75%. Zaydi-led governments ruled Yemen for a thousand years up until 1962. The Houthi movement has often advocated for Zaydi revivalism in Yemen since its foundation.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-houthis-iran-insight-idUSKBN0JT17A20141215|title=Iranian support seen crucial for Yemen's Houthis|publisher=Reuters |date=15 December 2014|access-date=31 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202145704/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/15/us-yemen-houthis-iran-insight-idUSKBN0JT17A20141215|archive-date=2 February 2015 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Review: The Huthi Movement in Yemen: Ideology, Ambition, and Security in the Arab Gulf |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221027-the-huthi-movement-in-yemen-ideology-ambition-and-security-in-the-arab-gulf/ |author=Omar Ahmed |website=Arab News |date=27 October 2022 |access-date=21 November 2022 |archive-date=21 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121140630/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221027-the-huthi-movement-in-yemen-ideology-ambition-and-security-in-the-arab-gulf/ |url-status=live }}

File:Ansar Allah Logo.svg:14){{cite web |author1=Middle East Forum |title=Harakat Ansar Allah (Yemen): Emblem |url=https://jihadintel.meforum.org/identifier/551/harakat-ansar-allah-yemen-emblem |website=jihadintel.meforum.org |access-date=15 February 2020 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415092935/https://jihadintel.meforum.org/identifier/551/harakat-ansar-allah-yemen-emblem |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Ansar Allah |author1=Ansar Allah (Houthis) |url=https://www.ansarollah.com/ |website=ansarollah.com |access-date=15 February 2020 |language=ar |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415085123/https://www.ansarollah.com/ |url-status=live }} Religious motives play an important role in the Houthi movement, though to what extent is disputed.]]

Although the group has framed its struggle in religious terms and put great importance on its Zaydi roots, the Houthis are not an exclusively Zaydi group. They have rejected their portrayal by others as a faction that is purportedly only interested in Zaydi-related issues. They have not publicly advocated for the restoration of the old Zaydi imamate, although analysts have argued that they might plan to restore it in the future. Most Yemenis have a low opinion of the old imamate, and Hussein al-Houthi also did not advocate the imamate's restoration. Instead, he proposed a "Guiding Eminence" (alam al-huda): an individual descended from the Prophet who would act as a "universal leader for the world". However, he never defined this position's prerogatives or how they should be appointed.{{sfn|Haykel|2022|pp=24–25}}

The movement has also recruited and allied with Sunni Muslims;{{cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a09aa064.html|title=Yemen: Treatment of Sunni Muslims by Houthis in areas under Houthi control (2014 – September 2017)|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|website=Refworld|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617141649/https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a09aa064.html|archive-date=17 June 2019|url-status=live|quote=[a]lthough the Huthis have widespread support among the Zaydi community, the movement also contains Sunni Muslims, [which is why] some Zaydis have denounced the Huthi movement [...] the Huthis are recruiting Yemenis of all faiths to fight for them}} according to researcher Ahmed Nagi, several themes of the Houthi ideology "such as Muslim unity, prophetic lineages, and opposition to corruption [...] allowed the Houthis to mobilize not only northern Zaydis, but also inhabitants of predominantly Shafi'i areas." However, the group is known to have discriminated against Sunni Muslims as well, closing Sunni mosques and primarily placing Zaydis in leadership positions in Houthi-controlled areas. The Houthis lost significant support among Sunni tribes after killing ex-President Saleh.{{cite web|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2019/04/the-houthi-tribal-conflict-in-yemen?lang=en|title=The Houthi–Tribal Conflict in Yemen|author=Maysaa Shuja al-Deen|date=23 April 2019|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|access-date=13 February 2021|archive-date=10 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210065210/https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/78969|url-status=live}}

Many Zaydis also oppose the Houthis, regarding them as Iranian proxies and the Houthis' form of Zaydi revivalism as an attempt to "establish Shiite rule in the north of Yemen". In addition, Haykel argued that the Houthis follow "a highly politicised, revolutionary, and intentionally simplistic, even primitivist interpretation of [Zaydism]'s teachings". Their view of Islam is largely based on the teachings of Hussein al-Houthi, collected after his death in a book titled Malazim (Fascicles), a work treated by Houthis as more important than older Zaydi theological traditions, resulting in repeated disputes with established Zaydi religious leaders.{{sfn|Haykel|2022|p=17}}

The Malazim reflect a number of different religious and ideological influences, including by Khomeinism and revolutionary Sunni Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Hussein al-Houthi believed that the "last exemplary" Zaydi scholar and leader was Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya; later, Zaydi imams were regarded as having deviated from the original form of Islam.{{sfn|Haykel|2022|pp=20–21}} The Houthis' belief in the "Quranic Way" also includes the rejection of tafsir (Quranic interpretations) as being derivative and divisive, meaning that they have a low opinion of most existing Islamic theological and juridical schools,{{sfn|Haykel|2022|pp=21–24}} including Zaydi traditionalists based in Sanaa with whom they often clash.{{sfn|Haykel|2022|pp=24–25, 28–29}}

The Houthis claim that their actions are to fight against the alleged expansion of Salafism in Yemen and for the defence of their community from discrimination.{{cite news|author=Robert F. Worth |title=How the War in Yemen Became a Bloody Stalemate — And the Worst Humanitarian Crisis in the World |newspaper=New York Times |date=2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/31/magazine/yemen-war-saudi-arabia.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031231242/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/31/magazine/yemen-war-saudi-arabia.html |archive-date=31 October 2018 |url-status=live}} In the years before the rise of the Houthi movement, state-supported Salafis had harassed Zaydis and destroyed Zaydi sites in Yemen.{{sfn|Haykel|2022|p=19}} After their rise to power in 2014, the Houthis consequently "crushed" the Salafi community in Saada Governorate{{sfn|Haykel|2022|p=19}} and mostly eliminated the al-Qaeda presence in the areas under their control; the Houthis view al-Qaeda as "Salafi jihadists" and thus "mortal enemies".{{sfn|Haykel|2022|p=21}} On the other side, between 2014 and 2019, the Houthi leadership have signed multiple co-existence agreements with the Salafi community; pursuing Shia-Salafi reconciliation.{{cite web|last=Khoshafah|first=Amjad|date=3 December 2021|title=Houthi-Salafi Coexistence Agreements: Motives and Future Prospects|url=https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/15839|website=Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies|access-date=26 January 2022|archive-date=26 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126093557/https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/15839|url-status=live}} The Yemeni government has often accused the Houthis of collaborating with al-Qaeda to undermine its control of southern Yemen.{{Cite web |last=Hussam Radman |first=Assim al-Sabri |date=2023-02-28 |title=Leadership from Iran: How Al-Qaeda in Yemen Fell Under the Sway of Saif al-Adel |url=https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/19623 |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies |language=en |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306134007/https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/19623 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=In rare admission, Yemen's Houthis confirm they released Al-Qaeda terrorists |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2254936/middle-east |website=Arab news |date=20 February 2023 |access-date=20 February 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404055703/https://www.arabnews.com/node/2254936/middle-east |url-status=live }}

In general, the Houthis' political ideology has gradually shifted from "heavily religious mobilisation and activism under Husayn to the more assertive and statesmanlike rhetoric under Abdulmalik", its current leader. With strong support from Houthis from the predominantly Zaydi northern tribes, the Houthi movement has often been described as a tribalist or monarchist faction in opposition to republicanism. Regardless, they have managed to rally many people outside of their traditional bases to their cause and became a major nationalist force.

File:Victims of Saudi-led airstrikes on a university that had been used as a detention center by Houthi rebels in Dhamar, in southwestern Yemen.jpg used as a detention center by the Houthis in Dhamar, 2 September 2019]]

When armed conflict for the first time erupted back in 2004 between the Yemeni government and Houthis, the President Ali Abdullah Saleh accused the Houthis and other Islamic opposition parties of trying to overthrow the government and the republican system. However, Houthi leaders, for their part, rejected the accusation by saying that they had never rejected the president or the republican system but were only defending themselves against government attacks on their community.{{cite news| first=Nasser| last=Arrabyee| title=Rebellion continues| url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/743/re10.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024172005/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/743/re10.htm| url-status=dead| archive-date=24 October 2005| work=Al-Ahram Weekly| date=25 May 2005| access-date=11 April 2007 }} After their takeover of northern Yemen in 2014, the Houthis remained committed to republicanism and continued to celebrate republican holidays.{{sfn|Haykel|2022|pp=24–25}} The Houthis have an ambivalent stance on the possible transformation of Yemen into a federation or the separation into two fully independent countries to solve the country's crisis. Though not opposed to these plans per se, they have declined any plans that would, in their eyes, marginalize the northern tribes politically.

Meanwhile, their opponents have asserted that the Houthis desire to institute Zaydi religious law,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm|title=Deadly blast strikes Yemen mosque|date=2 May 2008|access-date=11 November 2009|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201160808/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=live}} destabilising the government and stirring anti-American sentiment.{{cite news|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FG10Ak02.html|title=Rebels have Yemen on the hop|website=Asia Times Online|date=July 10, 2004|last=Sultan|first=Nabil|location=Sana'a|agency=Inter Press Service|access-date=January 14, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516011845/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FG10Ak02.html|archive-date=16 May 2008|url-status=dead}} In contrast, Hassan al-Homran, a former Houthi spokesperson, has said that "Ansar Allah supports the establishment of a civil state in Yemen. We want to build a striving modern democracy. Our goals are to fulfil our people's democratic aspirations in keeping with the Arab Spring movement."{{cite news|url=http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?SubID=7375|title=Hassan al-Homran, spokesperson for Ansar Allah|newspaper=Yemen Post|date=22 November 2013|access-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925151608/http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?SubID=7375|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=live}} In an interview with Yemen Times, Hussein al-Bukhari, a Houthi insider, said that Houthis' preferable political system is a republic with elections where women can also hold political positions, and that they do not seek to form a cleric-led government after the model of Islamic Republic of Iran, for "we cannot apply this system in Yemen because the followers of the Shafi (Sunni) doctrine are bigger in number than the Zaydis".{{cite news|url=http://www.yementimes.com/en/1826/intreview/4467|title=Al-Bukhari to the Yemen Times: 'The Houthis' takeover can not be called an invasion'|newspaper=Yemen Times|last=Al-Karimi|first=Khalid|date=21 October 2014|access-date=17 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925182440/http://www.yementimes.com/en/1826/intreview/4467|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=dead}} In 2018, the Houthi leadership proposed the establishment of a non-partisan transitional government composed of technocrats.{{cite news |last1=Shaker|first1=Naseh|last2=Edroos|first2=Faisal|location=Sanaa|date=25 December 2018 |title=Mohammed al-Houthi: We want a united and democratic Yemen |publisher=Al Jazeera English|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/12/25/mohammed-al-houthi-we-want-a-united-and-democratic-yemen |url-status=live |access-date=12 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703142727/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/12/25/mohammed-al-houthi-we-want-a-united-and-democratic-yemen |archive-date=3 July 2022}}

Ali Akbar Velayati, International Affairs Advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated in October 2014 that "We are hopeful that Ansar-Allah has the same role in Yemen as Hezbollah has in eradicating the terrorists in Lebanon".{{cite news|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/03/analysis-iranian-reactions-to-operation-decisive-storm.php|title=Analysis: Iranian Reactions to Operation Decisive Storm|publisher=Foundation for Defense of Democracies|work=FDD's Long War Journal|last=Ben Taleblu|first=Behnam|date=31 March 2015|access-date=31 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402002326/http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/03/analysis-iranian-reactions-to-operation-decisive-storm.php|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=live}} Mohammed Ali al-Houthi criticized the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates as "betrayal" against the Palestinians and the cause of pan-Arabism.{{cite news |title=Israel hails UAE deal but Palestinians – and settlers – dismayed |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-emirates-trump-reactions/israel-hails-uae-deal-but-palestinians-and-settlers-dismayed-idUSKCN2592R5 |work=Reuters |date=August 13, 2020|last=Farrell|first=Stephen|location=Jerusalem|access-date=9 September 2020 |archive-date=15 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115060408/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-emirates-trump-reactions/israel-hails-uae-deal-but-palestinians-and-settlers-dismayed-idUSKCN2592R5 |url-status=live }}

The Houthis' treatment of women and their restrictions on the arts has been a subject of debate. On one side, the movement has stated that it defends women's rights to vote and take public offices, and some feminists have fled from government-held areas into Houthi territories as the latter at least disempower more radical jihadists. The Houthis field their own women security force, ad well as a Girl Scouts wing. However, it has also been reported that Houthis harass women and restrict their freedom of movement and expression.

In regards to culture, the Houthis try to spread their views through propaganda using mainstream media, social media, and poetry as well as the "Houthification" of the education system to "instil Huthi values and mobilise the youth to join the fight against the coalition forces". However, the Houthis have been inconsistent in regards how to deal with forms of artistic expression which they disapprove of. The movement has allowed radio stations to continue broadcasting music and content that the Houthis view as too Western, but also banned certain songs and harassed artists such as wedding musicians. In one instance which generated much publicity, Houthi police officers conditioned that music could be played at a wedding party if loudspeakers did not broadcast it. The main wedding singer was arrested when the party guests did not conform to this demand.{{cite news |title=Houthis under fire for arresting wedding singer in Yemeni capital |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/09/houthis-under-fire-arresting-wedding-singer-yemeni-capital |author=Naseh Shaker |work=Al-Monitor |date=10 September 2021 |access-date=26 January 2022 |archive-date=26 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126160920/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/09/houthis-under-fire-arresting-wedding-singer-yemeni-capital |url-status=live }} Journalist Robert F. Worth stated that "many secular-minded Yemenis seem unsure whether to view the Houthis as oppressors or potential allies." In general, the Houthis' policies are often decided on a local basis, and high-ranking Houthi officials are frequently incapable of checking regional officers' powers, making the treatment of civilians dependent on the area.

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| footer = Houthis protest against airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on Sanaa in September 2015, carrying placards with the movement's slogans (upper image) as well as the flag of Yemen (below).

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The Houthis have been accused of expelling or restricting members of the rural Yemeni Jewish community, which had about 50 remaining members.{{cite news |url= https://www.timesofisrael.com/yemeni-minister-says-fate-of-countrys-remaining-jews-unknown/ |title= Yemen minister says fate of country's last 50 Jews unknown |author= Toi Staff |newspaper= Times of Israel |date= 16 April 2017 |access-date= 16 September 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190801085503/https://www.timesofisrael.com/yemeni-minister-says-fate-of-countrys-remaining-jews-unknown/ |archive-date= 1 August 2019 |url-status= live }} Reports of abuse include Houthi supporters bullying or attacking the country's Jews.{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Amid-persecution-Yemeni-Jews-face-extinction|title=Amid persecution, Yemeni Jews face extinction – Jewish World – Jerusalem Post|website=jpost.com|date=9 January 2013 |access-date=13 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813145715/https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Amid-persecution-Yemeni-Jews-face-extinction|archive-date=13 August 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title='Damn the Jews' proving more than just a slogan |url=http://www.yementimes.com/en/1861/report/4905/%E2%80%9CDamn-the-Jews%E2%80%9D-proving-more-than-just-a-slogan.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216024128/http://www.yementimes.com/en/1861/report/4905/%E2%80%9CDamn-the-Jews%E2%80%9D-proving-more-than-just-a-slogan.htm |archive-date=16 February 2017 |newspaper=Yemen Times}} Houthi officials have denied any involvement in the harassment, asserting that under Houthi control, Jews in Yemen would be able to live and operate freely as any other Yemeni citizen. "Our problems are with Zionism and the occupation of Palestine, but Jews here have nothing to fear," said Fadl Abu Taleb, a spokesman for the Houthis.

Despite insistence by Houthi leaders that the movement is not sectarian, a Yemeni Jewish rabbi has reportedly said that many Jews remain terrified by the movement's slogan. As a result, Yemeni Jews reportedly retain a negative sentiment towards the Houthis, who they allege have committed persecutions against them.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/world/middleeast/persecution-defines-life-for-yemens-few-jews.html?_r=1|title=Persecution Defines Life for Yemen's Remaining Jews|work=The New York Times|date=19 February 2015|access-date=22 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015014532/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/world/middleeast/persecution-defines-life-for-yemens-few-jews.html?_r=1|archive-date=15 October 2016|url-status=live}} According to Israeli Druze politician Ayoob Kara, Houthi militants had given an ultimatum telling Jews to "convert to Islam or leave Yemen".[http://yemenonline.info/special-reports/827 Houthis militants to Jews: Convert or leave Yemen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215220815/http://yemenonline.info/special-reports/827 |date=15 February 2016 }}. 11 October 2015. Yemen Online. Retrieved 8 February 2016.

In March 2016, a UAE-based newspaper reported that one of the Yemeni Jews who emigrated to Israel in 2016 was fighting with the Houthis. In the same month, a Kuwaiti newspaper, al-Watan, reported that a Yemeni Jew named Haroun al-Bouhi was killed in Najran while fighting with the Houthis against Saudi Arabia. The Kuwaiti newspaper added that the Yemeni Jews had a good relationship with Ali Abdullah Salah, who was at that time allied with the Houthis and was fighting on different fronts with the Houthis.{{cite news |author=Rowad Suleiman |date=22 March 2016 |url=https://24.ae/article/231450/%D9%8A%D9%87%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%20%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86%D9%8A%20%D9%85%D9%86%20%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%86%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%8A%20%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89%20%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%86%20%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84 |title=يهودي يمني من أحضان الحوثي إلى أحضان إسرائيل |trans-title=A Yemeni Jew from the arms of the Houthis to the arms of Israel |website=24.ae |language=ar |access-date=2019-09-17 |archive-date=17 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117130535/https://24.ae/article/231450/%D9%8A%D9%87%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%20%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86%D9%8A%20%D9%85%D9%86%20%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%86%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%8A%20%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89%20%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%86%20%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=الكشف عن جثة يهودي كان يشارك في القتال مع الحوثيين |url=http://alwatan.kuwait.tt/articledetails.aspx?id=470914&yearquarter=20161 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307105518/http://alwatan.kuwait.tt/articledetails.aspx?id=470914&yearquarter=20161|archive-date=7 March 2016|url-status=live|access-date=18 September 2019}}

Al-Houthi has said through his fascicles: "Arab countries and all Islamic countries will not be safe from Jews except through their eradication and the elimination of their entity."{{cite report |author=Salem Bahfi |date=September 2020 |title=Familiar But Distinct: Understanding the Houthi Ideology and its Consequences on Yemen |url=https://www.yemenembassy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Houthi-Ideology.pdf |publisher=Embassy of Yemen |place=Washington, DC |access-date=27 July 2021 |archive-date=17 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117130536/https://www.yemenembassy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Houthi-Ideology.pdf |url-status=live }} A New York Times journalist reported being asked why they were speaking to a "dirty Jew" and that the Jews in the village were unable to communicate with their neighbors.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/world/middleeast/persecution-defines-life-for-yemens-few-jews.html |title=Persecution Defines Life for Yemen's Remaining Jews |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2015-02-19 |access-date=2022-02-28 |archive-date=11 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711035908/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/world/middleeast/persecution-defines-life-for-yemens-few-jews.html |url-status=live }}

The Houthis have been accused of detaining, torturing, arresting, and holding incommunicado Baháʼí Faith members on charges of espionage and apostasy, which are punishable by death.{{cite web |date=27 February 2018 |title=Yemen: Houthis Sentence Baha'i Man to Death |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/27/yemen-houthis-sentence-bahai-man-death |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630105510/https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/27/yemen-houthis-sentence-bahai-man-death |archive-date=30 June 2018 |access-date=28 September 2018 |website=Human Rights Watch}}{{cite news | last1=Majidyar | first1=Ahmed | last2=Al Jarallah | first2=Lama | title=Iran-backed Houthi rebels step up persecution of Baha'i (sic) minority in Yemen | url=http://www.mei.edu/content/article/io/iran-backed-houthi-rebels-step-persecution-baha-i-minority-yemen | access-date=28 September 2018 | agency=mei | publisher=mei | date=21 September 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928044250/http://www.mei.edu/content/article/io/iran-backed-houthi-rebels-step-persecution-baha-i-minority-yemen | archive-date=28 September 2018 | url-status=dead }} Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi has targeted Baháʼís in public speeches, and accused the followers of Baháʼí Faith of being "satanic"{{cite news |last1=Michael |first1=Maggie |date=18 September 2018 |title=Amnesty decries Houthi prosecution of Bahais in Yemen |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/amnesty-decries-houthi-prosecution-of-bahais-in-yemen/2018/09/18/0d26eb2e-bb5d-11e8-adb8-01125416c102_story.html |access-date=28 September 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918193110/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/amnesty-decries-houthi-prosecution-of-bahais-in-yemen/2018/09/18/0d26eb2e-bb5d-11e8-adb8-01125416c102_story.html |archive-date=18 September 2018 |url-status=dead }} and agents for the western countries, citing a 2013 fatwa issued by Iran's supreme leader.

• Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi – former leader (killed 2004)
• Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi – leader
• Yahia Badreddin al-Houthi – senior leader
• Abdul-Karim Badreddin al-Houthi – high-ranking commander
• Badr Eddin al-Houthi – spiritual leader (died 2010)
• Abdullah al-Ruzami – former military commander
• Abu Ali Abdullah al-Hakem al-Houthi – military commander
• Saleh Habra – political leader{{cite news|url=http://www.yementimes.com/en/1559/news/645/Meetings-push-government-and-Houthis-closer-towards-%E2%80%9Creconciliation%E2%80%9D.htm|title=Meetings push government and Houthis closer towards 'reconciliation'|work=Yemen Times|date=29 March 2012|access-date=23 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123044728/http://yementimes.com/en/1559/news/645/Meetings-push-government-and-Houthis-closer-towards-%E2%80%9Creconciliation%E2%80%9D.htm|archive-date=23 January 2013|url-status=dead}}
• Fares Mana'a – Houthi-appointed governor of Sa'dah,{{cite news|author=Al-Batati, Saeed|title=Yemeni regime loses grip on four provinces|date=28 March 2011|newspaper=Arab News|url=http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article332239.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110331154218/http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article332239.ece|archive-date=31 March 2011|url-status=dead}} and former head of Saleh's presidential committee{{cite news|url=http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=1064&MainCat=6|title=Sana'a Cards to Pressurize Houthis to Enter New Dialogue Rounds|newspaper=Yemen Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501022555/http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=1064&MainCat=6|archive-date=1 May 2012 |url-status=live}}

During their campaigns against both the Saleh and Hadi governments, Houthis used civil disobedience. Following the Yemeni government's decision on 13 July 2014 to increase fuel prices, Houthi leaders succeeded in organising massive rallies in the capital Sanaa to protest the decision and to demand resignation of the incumbent government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi for "state-corruption".{{cite news|newspaper=Reuters|title=Tens of thousands of Yemeni Houthis protest against fuel reform, government|date=18 August 2014|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-protests/tens-of-thousands-of-yemeni-houthis-protest-against-fuel-reform-government-idUSL5N0QO2CN20140818|access-date=29 April 2021|archive-date=17 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117130543/https://www.reuters.com/article/yemen-protests/tens-of-thousands-of-yemeni-houthis-protest-against-fuel-reform-government-idUSL5N0QO2CN20140818|url-status=live}} These protests developed into the 2014–2015 phase of the insurgency. Similarly, following 2015 Saudi-led airstrikes against Houthis which claimed civilians lives, Yemenis responded to the Abdul-Malik al-Houthi's call and took to streets of the capital, Sanaa, in tens of thousands to voice their anger at the Saudi invasion.{{cite news|newspaper=Al Jazeera|title=Coalition jets continue to hit Houthi targets in Yemen|date=27 March 2015|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/coalition-jets-continue-hit-houthi-targets-yemen-150327022702372.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134533/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/coalition-jets-continue-hit-houthi-targets-yemen-150327022702372.html|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=live}}

The movement's expressed goals include combating economic underdevelopment and political marginalization in Yemen while seeking greater autonomy for Houthi-majority regions of the country. One of its spokespeople, Mohammed al-Houthi, claimed in 2018 that he supports a democratic republic in Yemen. The Houthis have made fighting corruption the centerpiece of their political program.

The Houthis have also held a number of mass gatherings since the revolution. On 24 January 2013, thousands gathered in Dahiyan, Sa'dah and Heziez, just outside Sanaa, to celebrate Mawlid al-Nabi, the birth of Mohammed. A similar event took place on 13 January 2014 at the main sports' stadium in Sanaa. On this occasion, men and women were completely segregated: men filled the open-air stadium and football field in the centre, guided by appointed Houthi safety officials wearing bright vests and matching hats; women poured into the adjacent indoor stadium, led inside by security women distinguishable only by their purple sashes and matching hats. The indoor stadium held at least five thousand women—ten times as many attendees as the 2013 gathering.

The Houthis are said to have "a huge and well-oiled propaganda machine". They have established "a formidable media arm" with the Lebanese Hezbollah's technical support. The format and content of the group's leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi's televised speeches are said to have been modeled after those of Hezbollah's Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah. Following the peaceful youth uprising in 2011, the group launched its official TV channel, Almasirah. The group operates up to 25 print and electronic newspapers, along with various online news services.

One of the most versatile form of Houthi mass media are the zawamil,{{Cite web |last=Qaed |first=Anas Al |date=2020-06-01 |title=A Battle of Hearts and Minds: The Growing Media Footprint of Yemen's Houthis |url=https://gulfif.org/a-battle-of-hearts-and-minds-the-growing-media-footprint-of-yemens-houthis/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Gulf International Forum |language=en |archive-date=16 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516151830/https://gulfif.org/a-battle-of-hearts-and-minds-the-growing-media-footprint-of-yemens-houthis/ |url-status=live }} a genre of primarily tribal oral poetry embedded in Yemen's social fabric. The zamil, rooted in cultural tradition, has been weaponised by the Houthis as a tool of propaganda and remains one of the most popular and rapidly growing platforms of Houthi propaganda,{{Cite web |title=Lyrical Art & Politics in Yemen {{!}} Khuyut |url=https://www.khuyut.com/article/art-politics |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=www.khuyut.com |archive-date=13 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913000754/https://www.khuyut.com/article/art-politics |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Dima |date=2024-02-12 |title="A call for war": Yemen's Enduring Zawamil Legacy |url=https://fanack.com/culture/features-insights/yemens-zawamil-legacy-a-call-for-war~266632/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=The MENA Chronicle {{!}} Fanack |language=en-US |archive-date=16 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516152249/https://fanack.com/culture/features-insights/yemens-zawamil-legacy-a-call-for-war~266632/ |url-status=live }} sung by popular vocalists like Issa Al-Laith and disseminated through various social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter and Telegram.{{Cite book |last=Hamidaddin |first=Abdullah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRd-EAAAQBAJ&dq=issa+allaith&pg=PA175 |title=The Huthi Movement in Yemen: Ideology, Ambition and Security in the Arab Gulf |date=2022-08-25 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-7556-4425-4 |language=en |access-date=28 May 2024 |archive-date=29 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729001215/https://books.google.com/books?id=IRd-EAAAQBAJ&dq=issa+allaith&pg=PA175 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Naji |first=Ammar |date=2022-02-27 |title=The Unspoken Agenda of Houthi Digital Poetry in Yemen's Current War Crisis |url=https://www.arabmediasociety.com/the-unspoken-agenda-of-houthi-digital-poetry-in-yemens-current-war-crisis/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Arab Media & Society |language=en-US |archive-date=16 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516143638/https://www.arabmediasociety.com/the-unspoken-agenda-of-houthi-digital-poetry-in-yemens-current-war-crisis/ |url-status=live }} The Spectator describes Houthi zawamil as its most successful part of their propaganda, stressing the movement's claimed virtues of piety, bravery and poverty in comparison with the corruption, wealth and hypocrisy of their adversaries, the Saudi-led coalition, and Arab states allied to Israel.{{Cite web |last=Rogerson |first=Barnaby |title=How the Houthis wage war through poetry |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-the-houthis-wage-war-through-poetry/ |website=The Spectator |date=February 2024 |access-date=16 May 2024 |archive-date=16 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516143645/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-the-houthis-wage-war-through-poetry/ |url-status=live }}

The Houthis use radio as an effective tool for spreading influence, often seizing stations and confiscating equipment from outlets that fail to comply with their broadcast restrictions.{{cite web |title=Radio becomes new battlefield in Yemen war |author=Joshua Holmes |date=September 12, 2019 |website=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Radio-becomes-new-battlefield-in-Yemen-war-601371/amp |access-date=9 October 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117130541/https://m.jpost.com/Middle-East/Radio-becomes-new-battlefield-in-Yemen-war-601371/amp |url-status=dead }} In 2019, a Yemeni radio station aligned with the group raised 73.5 million Yemeni rials ($132,000) in a fundraising campaign for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-07-06/radio-station-in-war-torn-yemen-raises-132-000-for-hezbollah |title=Radio Station in War-Torn Yemen Raises $132,000 for Hezbollah |author=Mohammed Hatem |date=July 6, 2019 |website=Bloomberg News |access-date=9 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708000807/https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-07-06/radio-station-in-war-torn-yemen-raises-132-000-for-hezbollah |archive-date=8 July 2019 |url-status=dead}}

In 2009, U.S. Embassy sources have reported that Houthis used increasingly more sophisticated tactics and strategies in their conflict with the government as they gained more experience, and that they fought with religious fervor.{{cite news|title=Cablegate: Who Are the Houthis, Part Two: How Are They|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WL0912/S01637/cablegate-who-are-the-houthis-part-two-how-are-they.htm|newspaper=Scoop|access-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925145800/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WL0912/S01637/cablegate-who-are-the-houthis-part-two-how-are-they.htm|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=live}}

File:Yemen division 2012-3-11.svg

{{see also|Houthi insurgency in Yemen}}

File:Yemen war detailed map 26 march.png

The Houthis exert partial control over the Yemeni Air Force, and possess key air bases such as Al-Dailami and Al Hudaydah.{{Cite news |date=22 February 2015 |title=Houthis take 'partial' control of Yemeni Air Force |url=https://www.newarab.com/analysis/houthis-take-partial-control-yemeni-air-force?amp |access-date=4 February 2024 |work=The New Arab}} The Houthi air force consists of a single Northrop F-5 fighter jet, which was seized from the Yemeni government.{{Cite web |last=Porter |first=Tom |title=The Houthi air force has a single fighter jet — an ancient F-5. The US is very much not afraid of it. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/houthi-air-force-is-single-f-5-jet-us-not-very-scared-2024-1 |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}} The group also flew a Soviet-era Mikoyan MiG-29 during a military parade over Sanaa in 2023.{{Cite web |title=Iran-backed Yemen rebels' attack on Israel-linked ship raises risks in vital Red Sea |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-backed-yemen-rebels-attack-on-israel-linked-ship-raises-risks-in-vital-red-sea/amp/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=The Times of Israel}} They also operate Mil Mi-17 helicopters seized during the civil war.{{Cite web |title=Houthi Rebels Hijack Israeli-Linked Car Carrier |url=https://maritime-executive.com/article/houthi-rebels-hijack-israeli-linked-car-carrier |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=The Maritime Executive |language=en}}

Since established in 2003, Hezbollah's Unit 3800 has provided the Houthis training and strategic assistance.{{Cite web |last=Shapira |first=Boaz |date=2025-01-05 |title=The Quds Force and Hezbollah Involvement Alongside the Houthis in Yemen |url=https://israel-alma.org/the-quds-force-and-hezbollah-involvement-alongside-the-houthis-in-yemen/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Alma Research and Education Center |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=About Hezbollah {{!}} Hezbollah |url=https://hezbollah.org/about-hezbollah |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=hezbollah.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Matamis |first=Joaquin |date=2024-07-15 |title=How Hezbollah Grew Over Four Decades, Profiting From Chaos • Stimson Center |url=https://www.stimson.org/2024/how-hezbollah-grew-over-four-decades-profiting-from-chaos/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=Stimson Center |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2018-03-25 |title=Iran’s use of Hezbollah Unit 3800 to create a new Hezbollah in Yemen |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/perspective/features/2018/03/25/Iran-s-use-of-Hezbollah-Unit-3800-to-create-a-new-Hezbollah-in-Yemen |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=Al Arabiya English |language=en}} Iran's Quds Force has smuggled weapons to the Houthis since 2009, mainly using dhows and small fishing boats. It began smuggling missile components as well by 2015.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-03 |title=Houthi Arsenal |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/houthi-arsenal |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=Wilson Center |language=en}} Between 2004 and 2010, the Houthis frequently looted Yemeni government weapons caches, which included Scud and OTR-21 Tochka missiles obtained during the 1994 Yemeni civil war, due to weak government control over its arsenal. In 2017, the UN reported that about 70% of the Yemeni military's weapons were likely lost.{{Cite report |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep24837.12 |title=Houthi Missile Sources |last1=Williams |first1=Ian |last2=Shaikh |first2=Shaan |date=2020 |publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) |pages=15–19}}

In March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition claimed that it had destroyed most of the Houthis' missile capabilities during an air campaign, however Houthi missile attacks persisted. The Houthis, with technological help from Iran, began work on new missile variants by mid-2016, and by September they introduced the Burkan-1, a variant of the Scud with extended range. The following month, they introduced the Burkan-2H, which had a separating warhead. These weapons enabled the Houthis to strike targets deep in Saudi Arabia, including the capital Riyadh.{{Cite web |last=Nevola |first=Luca |date=2023-01-17 |title=Beyond Riyadh: Houthi Cross-Border Aerial Warfare (2015-2022) |url=https://acleddata.com/2023/01/17/beyond-riyadh-houthi-cross-border-aerial-warfare-2015-2022/ |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=ACLED |language=en-US}} After examining debris from the Burkan-2H, the UN concluded in December 2017 that the missile was supplied by Iran.{{Cite report |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep24837.10 |title=The Missile War in Yemen: A Brief History |last1=Williams |first1=Ian |last2=Shaikh |first2=Shaan |date=2020 |publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) |pages=3–9}}

Late in 2015, Houthis announced the local production of short-range ballistic missile Qaher-1 on Al-Masirah TV. On 19 May 2017 Saudi Arabia intercepted a Houthi-fired ballistic missile targeting a deserted area south of the Saudi capital and most populous city Riyadh. The Houthi militias have captured dozens of tanks and masses of heavy weaponry from the Yemeni Armed Forces.{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/saudi-arabia-intercepts-houthi-rebel-missile-fired-towards-riyadh/a-38913313|title=Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi rebel missile fired towards Riyadh – News – DW – 20.05.2017|website=DW.COM|access-date=21 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119153423/http://www.dw.com/en/saudi-arabia-intercepts-houthi-rebel-missile-fired-towards-riyadh/a-38913313|archive-date=19 January 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/saudi-arabia-retaliates-rocket-attack-houthis-47528517|title=ABC News|website=ABC News|access-date=21 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524070643/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/saudi-arabia-retaliates-rocket-attack-houthis-47528517|archive-date=24 May 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite web |title = فيديو+صور 'قاهر1' أول صاروخ بالستي معدل محلياً يضرب قاعدة خميس مشيط {{!}} المسيرة نت – قناة المسيرة الفضائية |url = http://www.almasirah.net/%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B11-%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AE-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%84-%D9%85/ |access-date = 10 March 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160311023428/http://www.almasirah.net/%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B11-%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AE-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%84-%D9%85/ |archive-date = 11 March 2016 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}

In February 2017, the Houthis revealed their drone program. Between mid-2018 and 2019, long-range ballistic missile attacks decreased in frequency, while the Houthis increasingly began using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and artillery. UAVs were used for both attacks on military and civilian targets{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Seth G. |last2=Thompson |first2=Jared |last3=Ngo |first3=Danielle |last4=Jr |first4=Joseph S. Bermudez |last5=McSorley |first5=Brian |date=2021-12-21 |title=The Iranian and Houthi War against Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/iranian-and-houthi-war-against-saudi-arabia |journal= |language=}}{{Cite web |last=Weiss |first=Caleb |date=2019-08-07 |title=Analysis: Houthi drone strikes in Saudi Arabia and Yemen |url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/08/analysis-houthi-drone-strikes-in-saudi-arabia-and-yemen.php |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=FDD's Long War Journal |language=en-US}} and reconnaissance.{{Cite web |last=Dewan |first=Khalil |date=2019-07-30 |title=How Do Yemen’s Houthis & AQAP “Counter” Drones? A Look At Open Sources |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019/07/30/how-do-yemens-houthis-aqap-counter-drones-a-look-at-open-sources/ |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=bellingcat |language=en-GB}} The Qasef UAV, which can carry up to {{convert|30|kg}} of explosives, had been used in over a dozen Houthi attacks since 2016. The Sammad-2, Sammad-3, and Qasif-2K suicide drones were unveiled in 2019. Houthi drone attacks peaked in 2021, with many targeting Saudi Arabia.{{Cite web |last1=d'Hauthuille |first1=Valentin |last2=Nevola |first2=Luca |date=2024-08-06 |title=Six Houthi drone warfare strategies: How innovation is shifting the regional balance of power |url=https://acleddata.com/2024/08/06/six-houthi-drone-warfare-strategies-how-innovation-is-shifting-the-regional-balance-of-power/ |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=ACLED |language=en-US}}

In June 2019, the Saudi-led coalition stated that the Houthis had launched 226 ballistic missiles during the insurgency so far.{{cite news |url=https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKBN1W22EQ |title=Yemen Houthi drones, missiles defy years of Saudi air strikes |author1=Lisa Barrington |author2=Aziz El Yaakoubi |publisher=Reuters |date=17 September 2019 |access-date=27 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927100158/https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKBN1W22EQ |archive-date=27 September 2019 |url-status=dead }}

The 2019 Abqaiq–Khurais attack targeted the Saudi Aramco oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in eastern Saudi Arabia on 14 September 2019. The Houthi movement claimed responsibility, though the United States has asserted that Iran was behind the attack. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that "Yemeni people are exercising their legitimate right of defence ... the attacks were a reciprocal response to aggression against Yemen for years."{{cite news |title=Putin proposes Russian missile defence for Saudi after oil attack |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/saudi-oil-attacks-latest-updates-190916102800973.html |work=Al-Jazeera |date=16 September 2019 |access-date=16 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918053345/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/saudi-oil-attacks-latest-updates-190916102800973.html |archive-date=18 September 2019 |url-status=live }}

The Houthis unveiled the Palestine-2 missile in June 2024, which closely resembled the Iranian Fattah-1 and Kheibar Shekan missiles. According to the Houthis, the missile was locally made, a claim rejected by defense analysts.{{Cite web |last=Manley |first=Cameron |title=Yemen's Houthi rebels fire 'Palestine' missile at Israel that resembles Iran's hypersonic weapon, report says |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/yemens-houthis-fire-palestine-missile-israel-like-irans-hypersonic-weapon-2024-6 |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2024-06-06 |title=Yemen's Houthi rebels unveil solid-fuel 'Palestine' missile that resembles Iranian hypersonic |url=https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-missile-arsenal-iran-israel-hamas-ed74174915e301d30c50493f2c629a1a |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=AP News |language=en}} In September, the missile was fired at Israel and landed in an open area near Ben Gurion Airport, traveling a distance of {{convert|2,000|km}} in 11 minutes.{{Cite web |last=Salhani |first=Justin |title=Yemen's Houthis fire 'hypersonic' missile at Israel: What to know |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/17/yemens-houthis-file-hypersonic-missile-at-israel-what-to-know |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}} The Houthis claimed that the rocket used two stage solid fuel, had a range of {{convert|2,150|km}}, and had a maximum speed of Mach 16. Israel and the US denied that the missile was hypersonic.{{Cite web |last=Dagres |first=Holly |date=2024-09-24 |title=Do the Houthis really have a hypersonic missile? |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/yemen-iran-houthis-hypersonic-missile-israel/ |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=Atlantic Council |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Watkins |first=Thomas |title=Houthi missile that reached Israel was not hypersonic, Pentagon says |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2024/09/17/houthi-missile-that-reached-israel-was-not-hypersonic-pentagon-says/ |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=The National |language=en}}

In course of the Yemeni Civil War, the Houthis developed tactics to combat their opponents' navies. At first, their anti-ship operations were unsophisticated and limited to rocket-propelled grenades being shot at vessels close to the shore.{{cite web |author=Caleb Weiss |date=17 August 2019 |title=Analysis: Houthi naval attacks in the Red Sea |url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/08/analysis-houthi-naval-attacks-in-the-red-sea.php |access-date=24 March 2020 |website=Long War Journal |archive-date=29 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229022930/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/08/analysis-houthi-naval-attacks-in-the-red-sea.php |url-status=live }} In the fight to secure the port city of Aden in 2015, the Yemeni Navy was largely destroyed, including all missile-carrying vessels. A number of smaller patrol craft, landing craft, and Mi-14 and Ka-28 ASW helicopters did survive. Their existence under Houthi control would be brief, as the majority of them were destroyed in air attacks during the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen in 2015. As a result, the Houthis were left with AShMs (anti-ship missiles) stored ashore, but no launchers, and a smattering of small patrol ships. These, along with a number of locally manufactured small craft and miscellaneous vessels, were to form the foundation of the new naval warfare capabilities.{{sfn|Knights|2018|p=20}}

Soon after the Houthis took over Yemen in 2015, Iran sought to strengthen the Houthis' naval capabilities, allowing the Houthis, and thus Iran, to intercept Coalition shipping off the Red Sea coast, by providing additional AShMs and constructing truck-based launchers that could easily be hidden after a launch. Iran also anchored the {{MV|Saviz}} intelligence vessel, disguised as a regular cargo vessel, off the coast of Eritrea, that provided intelligence and updates on Coalition ship movements to the Houthis.{{Cite web |title=H I Sutton – Covert Shores |url=http://www.hisutton.com/Saviz.html |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=www.hisutton.com |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102173850/http://www.hisutton.com/Saviz.html |url-status=live }} The Saviz served in this capacity until it was damaged in an Israeli limpet mine attack in April 2021, when it was replaced by the {{MV|Behshad}}.{{Cite web |date=2021-04-07 |title=Israel informed US it attacked Iran's Saviz ship in Red Sea as retaliation: NYT |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/04/07/Israel-informed-US-it-attacked-Iran-s-Saviz-ship-in-Red-Sea-as-retaliation-NYT |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Al Arabiya English |language=en |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102173848/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/04/07/Israel-informed-US-it-attacked-Iran-s-Saviz-ship-in-Red-Sea-as-retaliation-NYT |url-status=live }} The Behshad, like the Saviz, is based on a cargo ship.{{Cite web |last=al-Tamimi |first=Nabil Abdullah |title=Iran replaces stricken Red Sea spy ship with new focus on oil tankers |url=https://almashareq.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_am/features/2021/08/19/feature-01 |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Al-Mashareq |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102173848/https://almashareq.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_am/features/2021/08/19/feature-01 |url-status=live }}

Meanwhile, in Yemen, the Houthis, presumably with the assistance of Iranian engineers, converted a number of 10-meter-long patrol craft donated by the UAE to the Yemeni Coast Guard in the early 2010s into WBIEDs (water born improvised explosive devices). In 2017, one of these was used to attack the Saudi frigate Al Madinah.{{Cite web |date=2017-02-20 |title=Navy: Saudi Frigate Attacked by Unmanned Bomb Boat, Likely Iranian |url=https://news.usni.org/2017/02/20/navy-saudi-frigate-attacked-unmanned-bomb-boat-likely-iranian |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=USNI News |language=en-US |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102192032/https://news.usni.org/2017/02/20/navy-saudi-frigate-attacked-unmanned-bomb-boat-likely-iranian |url-status=live }} In the years since, three more WBIED designs have been built: the Tawfan-1, Tawfan-2, and Tawfan-3. 15 different types of naval mines were also produced.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-12 |title=Houthi Rebels Unveil Host of Weaponry, Compounding Drone and Missile Threat |url=https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2021/03/houthi-rebels-unveil-host-of-weaponry.html |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Oryx |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102173848/https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2021/03/houthi-rebels-unveil-host-of-weaponry.html |url-status=live }} These are being increasingly deployed in the Red Sea, but have yet to be successful against naval vessels.{{sfn|Knights|2018|pp=20–21}} The delivery of 120 km-ranged Noor and 200 km-ranged Qader AShMs, 300 km-ranged Khalij Fars ASBMs, and Fajr-4CL and "Al-Bahr Al-Ahmar" anti-ship rockets by Iran, which were unveiled during a 2022 Houthi parade, was arguably the most significant escalation in support. They combine long range, low cost, and high mobility with various types of guidance to create a weapon well-suited to the Houthi Navy.{{Cite journal |last1=Cordesman |first1=Anthony H. |last2=Hwang |first2=Grace |date=2019 |title=The Second Key Shift in the Military Balance: The Rising Impact of Iran's Asymmetric Forces |journal=Iran and the Changing Military Balance in the Gulf |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep24240.6 |pages=105–161 |access-date=2 January 2023 |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102192024/https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep24240.6 |url-status=live }}

Though the Houthis' ASBM arsenal has yet to be tested, the Houthi Navy has had notable success with AShMs.{{cite news |author=Caleb Weiss |date=11 March 2020 |title=Houthis increase use of suicide drone boats in recent weeks |url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/03/houthis-increase-use-of-suicide-drone-boats-in-recent-weeks.php |access-date=24 March 2020 |newspaper=FDD's Long War Journal |archive-date=24 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324142002/https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/03/houthis-increase-use-of-suicide-drone-boats-in-recent-weeks.php |url-status=live }} On October 1, 2016, it was able to hit the UAE Navy's HSV-2 Swift hybrid catamaran with a single C-801/C-802 AShM fired from a shore battery.{{Cite web |last=Taghvaee |first=Babak |date=2018-07-23 |title=OPINION: Hormuz Strait Blockage Could Destroy IRGC Navy |url=https://kayhanlife.com/views/opinion-hormuz-strait-blockage-could-destroy-irgc-navy/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=KAYHAN LIFE |language=en-US |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102192025/https://kayhanlife.com/views/opinion-hormuz-strait-blockage-could-destroy-irgc-navy/ |url-status=live }} Although the ship managed to stay afloat, the damage was so severe that it had to be decommissioned. The US Navy then sent two destroyers and an amphibious transport dock to the area to ensure that shipping could continue unabated. These vessels were then attacked with AShMs on three separate occasions, with no success.{{Cite web |date=2016-10-11 |title=USS Mason Fired 3 Missiles to Defend From Yemen Cruise Missiles Attack |url=https://news.usni.org/2016/10/11/uss-mason-fired-3-missiles-to-defend-from-yemen-cruise-missiles-attack |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=USNI News |language=en-US |archive-date=9 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809090937/https://news.usni.org/2016/10/11/uss-mason-fired-3-missiles-to-defend-from-yemen-cruise-missiles-attack |url-status=live }}

Though these attacks demonstrated the Houthis' limited ability to threaten vessels in Yemen's surrounding seas, the threat posed by them has since evolved significantly. Armed with a variety of anti-ship ballistic missiles and rockets that can be notoriously difficult to intercept and cover large areas, the next round of maritime clashes with the navies of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and the United States could have a completely different outcome. The Houthis have also hinted at using their extensive arsenal of loitering munitions against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, a tactic similar to recent Iranian tactics in the Persian Gulf.{{cite tweet|user=JoshuaKoontz__|last=Koontz|first=Joshua|number=1583526237237956608|title=Following recent Houthi UAV attacks near the Dhabah Oil Terminal in Hadramawt, #Yemen, Houthi media outlet Al-Masirah posted a propaganda photo that showed a Houthi Samad-3 loitering munition targeting a ship.|access-date=2023-01-02|archive-date=3 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103190812/https://twitter.com/JoshuaKoontz__/status/1583526237237956608 |url-status=dead}}

Patrol boats were fitted with anti-tank guided missiles, about 30 coast-watcher stations were set up, disguised "spy dhows" were constructed, and the maritime radar of docked ships used to create targeting solutions for attacks.{{sfn|Knights|2018|p=20}} One of the most notable features of the Houthis' naval arsenal became its remote-controlled drone boats which carry explosives and ram enemy warships.{{sfn|Knights|2018|pp=20–21}} Among these, the self-guiding Shark-33 explosive drone boats originated as patrol boats of the old Yemeni coast guard.{{sfn|Knights|2018|pp=20–21}} In addition, the Houthis have begun to train combat divers on the Zuqar and Bawardi islands.{{sfn|Knights|2018|p=20}}

{{See also|Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict}}

Former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh had accused the Houthis of having ties to external backers, in particular the Iranian government; Saleh stated in an interview with The New York Times,

The real reason they received unofficial support from Iran was because they repeat same slogan that is raised by Iran – death to America, death to Israel. We have another source for such accusations. The Iranian media repeats statements of support for these [Houthi] elements. They are all trying to take revenge against the USA on Yemeni territories.{{cite journal | author = The New York Times & Saleh, Ali Abdullah | date = June 28, 2008 | title = An Interview with President Ali Abdullah Saleh | journal = The New York Times (NYTimes.com) | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/world/middleeast/28saleh-interview.html | access-date = 9 November 2023 | archive-date = 8 July 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160708203158/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/world/middleeast/28saleh-interview.html | url-status = live }}

Such backing has been reported by diplomatic correspondents of major news outlets (e.g., Patrick Wintour of The Guardian), and has been the reported perspective of Yemeni governmental leaders militarily and politically opposing Houthi efforts (e.g., as of 2017, the UN-recognized, deposed Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who referred to the "Houthi rebels... as 'Iranian militias'".{{cite journal | author = Wintour, Patrick | date = 4 December 2017 | title = Yemen Houthi rebels kill former president Ali Abdullah Saleh | journal = The Guardian (TheGuardian.com) | url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/04/former-yemen-president-saleh-killed-in-fresh-fighting | access-date = 9 November 2023 | archive-date = 13 September 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240913000621/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/04/former-yemen-president-saleh-killed-in-fresh-fighting | url-status = live }}{{cite journal | author = Lockie, Alex | date = October 13, 2016 | title = Why the US Confronted Iranian-Backed Militants in Yemen, and the Risks that Lie Ahead | journal = Business Insider BusinessInsider.com | url = http://www.businessinsider.com/us-yemen-strike-houthi-iran-saudi-arabia-2016-10 | access-date = 9 November 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022023909/http://www.businessinsider.com/us-yemen-strike-houthi-iran-saudi-arabia-2016-10 | archive-date=22 October 2016 | url-status=live | url-access = registration}}

The Houthis in turn accused the Saleh government of being backed by Saudi Arabia and of using Al-Qaeda to repress them.{{cite news|url=http://www.weaselzippers.net/blog/2009/12/alqaeda-fighting-for-yemeni-government-against-houthi-shia-rebels.html|title=Al-Qaeda Fighting for Yemeni Government Against Houthi Shia Rebels...|date=29 December 2009|access-date=1 February 2010|archive-date=13 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513170751/https://www.weaselzippers.us/|url-status=dead}} Under the next President Hadi, Gulf Arab states accused Iran of backing the Houthis financially and militarily, though Iran denied this, and they were themselves backers of President Hadi. Despite confirming statements by Iranian and Yemeni officials in regards to Iranian support in the form of trainers, weaponry, and money, the Houthis denied reception of substantial financial or arm support from Iran.{{cite news|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/20/Iranian-ship-unloads-185-tons-of-weapons-for-Houthis-at-Saleef-port.html|title=Iranian ship unloads 185 tons of weapons for Houthis at Saleef port|date=20 March 2015|newspaper=Al Arabiya News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324033033/http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/20/Iranian-ship-unloads-185-tons-of-weapons-for-Houthis-at-Saleef-port.html|archive-date=24 March 2015|url-status=live}} Joost Hiltermann of Foreign Policy wrote that whatever little material support the Houthis may have received from Iran, the intelligence and military support by US and UK for the Saudi Arabian-led coalition exceed that by many factors.{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/27/the-houthis-are-not-hezbollah/|title=The Houthis Are Not Hezbollah|website=Foreign Policy|date=27 February 2017 |access-date=2018-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728131546/https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/27/the-houthis-are-not-hezbollah/|archive-date=28 July 2018|url-status=live}}

In April 2015, the United States National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan remarked that "It remains our assessment that Iran does not exert command and control over the Houthis in Yemen".{{cite web|url=https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/030917_Rand_Testimony.pdf|title=United states senate committee on foreign relations|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513055623/https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/030917_Rand_Testimony.pdf|archive-date=13 May 2017|url-status=dead}} Joost Hiltermann wrote that Iran does not control the Houthis' decision-making as evidenced by Houthis' flat rejection of Iran's demand not to take over Sanaa in 2015. Thomas Juneau, writing in the journal, International Affairs, states that even though Iran's support for Houthis has increased since 2014, it remains far too limited to have a significant impact in the balance of power in Yemen. The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft argues that Teheran's influence over the movement has been "greatly exaggerated" by "the Saudis, their coalition partners (mainly the United Arab Emirates), and their [lobbyists] in Washington."{{cite news|url=https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/12/13/houthi-hysteria-breaks-out-at-the-wall-street-journal/|title=Houthi hysteria breaks out at the Wall Street Journal|date=13 December 2021|work=Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft|access-date=13 December 2021|archive-date=13 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213174010/https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/12/13/houthi-hysteria-breaks-out-at-the-wall-street-journal/|url-status=live}}

A December 2009 cable between Sanaa and various intelligence agencies in the US diplomatic cables leak states that US State Dept. analysts believed the Houthis obtained weapons from the Yemeni black market and corrupt members of the Yemenis Republican Guard.{{cite web |last1=Cockburn |first1=Patrick |title=America's persecution of Julian Assange has everything to do with Yemen |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/julian-assange-us-authorities-wikileaks-secrets-yemen-iran-saudi-arabia-a8938786.html |website=The Independent |access-date=14 May 2025 |date=31 May 2019}} On the edition of 8 April 2015 of PBS Newshour, Secretary of State John Kerry stated that the US knew Iran was providing military support to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, adding that Washington "is not going to stand by while the region is destabilised".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/world/middleeast/kerry-us-iran-military-aid-houthi-yemen.html|title=Kerry Says U.S. Knew of Iran's Military Aid to Houthi Rebels|date=10 April 2015|work=The New York Times|access-date=22 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161218040230/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/world/middleeast/kerry-us-iran-military-aid-houthi-yemen.html|archive-date=18 December 2016|url-status=live}}

Phillip Smyth of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told Business Insider that Iran views Shia groups in the Middle East as "integral elements to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)". Smyth claimed that there is a strong bond between Iran and the Houthi uprising working to overthrow the government in Yemen. According to Smyth, in many cases Houthi leaders go to Iran for ideological and religious education, and Iranian and Hezbollah leaders have been spotted on the ground advising the Houthi troops, and these Iranian advisers are likely responsible for training the Houthis to use the type of sophisticated guided missiles fired at the US Navy.cf. {{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-general-suspects-iran-role-in-houthi-attacks-on-us-ships/|title=US general suspects Iran role in Houthi attacks on US ships|work=The Times of Israel|date=20 October 2016|access-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025180943/http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-general-suspects-iran-role-in-houthi-attacks-on-us-ships/|archive-date=25 October 2016|url-status=live}}

To some commentators (e.g., Alex Lockie of Business Insider), Iran's support for the revolt in Yemen is "a good way to bleed the Saudis", a recognized regional and ideological rival of Iran. Essentially, from that perspective, Iran is backing the Houthis to fight against a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf States whose aim is to maintain control of Yemen. The discord has led some commentators to fear that further confrontations may lead to an all-out Sunni-Shia war.{{cite book |last1=McMurray |first1=David A. |last2=Ufheil-Somers |first2=Amanda |title=The Arab Revolts: Dispatches on Militant Democracy in the Middle East |date=2013 |publisher=Indiana Univ Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=9780253009753}}{{page needed|date=January 2024}}

In early 2013, photographs released by the Yemeni government show the United States Navy and Yemen's security forces seizing a class of "either modern Chinese- or Iranian-made" shoulder-fired, heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles "in their standard packaging", missiles "not publicly known to have been out of state control", raising concerns of Iran's arming of the rebels.{{cite news | last1=Chivers |first1=C. J. | last2=Worth | first2=Robert F. | date = 8 February 2013 | title=Seizure of Antiaircraft Missiles in Yemen Raises Fears That Iran Is Arming Rebels There | work= The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/world/middleeast/weapons-seizure-in-yemen-raises-worries-of-irans-influence.html | access-date = 9 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204000856/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/world/middleeast/weapons-seizure-in-yemen-raises-worries-of-irans-influence.html | archive-date=4 February 2017 | url-status=live}} In April 2016, the U.S. Navy intercepted a large Iranian arms shipment, seizing thousands of AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and 0.50-caliber machine guns, a shipment described as likely headed to Yemen by the Pentagon.{{cite web | author = ((Reuters Staff)) | date = 4 April 2016 | title = U.S. Navy Says it Seized Weapons from Iran Likely Bound for Houthis in Yemen | work = Reuters.com | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-yemen-arms-idUSKCN0X12DB | access-date = 9 November 2023 | archive-date = 9 November 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231109210233/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-yemen-arms-idUSKCN0X12DB | url-status = live }}{{cite news | author = Tomlinson, Lucas & The Associated Press | date = April 4, 2016 | title = US Seizes Thousands of Iranian Weapons, Including Grenade Launchers, in Arabian Sea | work = FoxNews.com | url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-seizes-thousands-of-iranian-weapons-including-grenade-launchers-in-arabian-sea/ | access-date = 15 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019000616/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/04/04/us-seizes-thousands-iranian-weapons-including-grenade-launchers-in-arabian-sea.html | archive-date=19 October 2016 | url-status=live}} Based on 2019 reporting from The Jerusalem Post, the Houthis have also repeatedly used a drone nearly identical to Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company's Ababil-T drone in strikes against Saudi Arabia.{{cite web | last=Frantzman | first=Seth J.| date = 6 July 2019 | title = Iran Media Celebrates Houthi Drone Attacks on Saudi Arabia | work=The Jerusalem Post | url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-media-celebrates-Houthi-drone-attacks-on-Saudi-Arabia-594691 | access-date=23 July 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722173441/https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-media-celebrates-Houthi-drone-attacks-on-Saudi-Arabia-594691 | archive-date=22 July 2019 |url-status=live}} In late October 2023, Israel stated that it had intercepted a "surface-to-surface long-range ballistic missile and two cruise missiles that were fired by the Houthi rebels in Yemen"; per reporting from Axios.com, this "was Israel's first-ever operational use of the Arrow system for intercepting ballistic missiles since the war began".{{cite news | author = Ravid, Barak | date = 31 October 2023 | title = Israel Says it Thwarted Missile Attack by Yemen's Houthi Rebels | work = Axios.com | url = https://www.axios.com/2023/10/31/israel-intercepts-ballistic-missile-houthis-yemen | access-date = 9 November 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231109210233/https://www.axios.com/2023/10/31/israel-intercepts-ballistic-missile-houthis-yemen | archive-date = 9 November 2023 | url-status = live }}

The continuing interceptions and seizures of weapons at sea, attributed to Iranian origins, is a matter tracked by the United States Institute of Peace.{{cite web | author = USIP Staff | date = 2 March 2023 | title = Timeline: U.S. Seizures of Iranian Weapons at Sea | work = United States Institute of Peace | url = https://iranprimer.usip.org/index.php/blog/2021/may/12/seizures-iranian-weapons | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = United States Institute of Peace | access-date = 9 November 2023 | archive-date = 9 November 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231109210221/https://iranprimer.usip.org/index.php/blog/2021/may/12/seizures-iranian-weapons | url-status = dead }}

In 2013, an Iranian vessel was seized and discovered to be carrying Katyusha rockets, heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles, RPG-7s, Iranian-made night vision goggles and artillery systems that track land and navy targets 40 km away. That was en route to the Houthis.{{cite web|url=https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-irgc|title=Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)|website=Counter Extremism Project|access-date=12 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813023317/https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-irgc|archive-date=13 August 2019|url-status=live}}

In March 2017, Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Force, met with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to look for ways to what was described as "empowering" the Houthis. Soleimani was quoted as saying, "At this meeting, they agreed to increase the amount of help, through training, arms and financial support." Despite the Iranian government, and Houthis both officially denying Iranian support for the group. Brigadier General Ahmad Asiri, the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition told Reuters that evidence of Iranian support was manifested in the Houthi use of Kornet anti-tank guided missiles which had never been in use with the Yemeni military or with the Houthis and that the arrival of Kornet missiles had only come at a later time.{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-03-21/exclusive-iran-steps-up-support-for-houthis-in-yemens-war-sources |author1=Jonathan Saul|author2=Parisa Hafezi|author3=Michael Georgy |date=21 March 2017 |title=Exclusive: Iran Steps up Support for Houthis in Yemen's War – Sources |website=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=12 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322202635/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-03-21/exclusive-iran-steps-up-support-for-houthis-in-yemens-war-sources |archive-date=22 March 2017 |url-status=live }} In the same month the IRGC had altered the routes used in transporting equipment to the Houthis by spreading out shipments to smaller vessels in Kuwaiti territorial waters in order to avoid naval patrols in the Gulf of Oman due to sanctions imposed, shipments reportedly included parts of missiles, launchers, and drugs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-kuwait-iran-exclusive-idUSKBN1AH4I4 |title=Exclusive: Iran Revolutionary Guards find new route to arm Yemen... |date=2 August 2017|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812053014/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-kuwait-iran-exclusive-idUSKBN1AH4I4|archive-date=12 August 2019|url-status=live}}

In May 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on Iran's IRGC, which was also listed as a designated terrorist organization by the US over its role in providing support for the Houthis, including help with manufacturing ballistic missiles used in attacks targeting cities and oil fields in Saudi Arabia.{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/hits-iran-irgc-sanctions-support-yemen-houthis-180523053245629.html|title=US hits Iran IRGC with sanctions over support of Yemen's Houthis|website=aljazeera.com|access-date=12 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807233057/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/hits-iran-irgc-sanctions-support-yemen-houthis-180523053245629.html|archive-date=7 August 2019|url-status=live}}

In August 2018, despite previous Iranian denial of military support for the Houthis, IRGC commander Nasser Shabani was quoted by the Iranian Fars News Agency as saying, "We (IRGC) told Yemenis [Houthi rebels] to strike two Saudi oil tankers, and they did it", on 7 August 2018. In response to Shabani's account, the IRGC released a statement saying that the quote was a "Western lie" and that Shabani was a retired commander, despite no actual reports of his retirement after 37 years in the IRGC, and media linked to the Iranian government confirming he was still enlisted with the IRGC.{{cite web|url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-irgc-general-houthis-yemen-saudi-ships/29420739.html|title=IRGC Claims General Who Spilled The Beans Is A 'Retired' Officer|website=RFE/RL|date=8 August 2018 |access-date=12 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812053010/https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-irgc-general-houthis-yemen-saudi-ships/29420739.html|archive-date=12 August 2019|url-status=live}} Furthermore, while the Houthis and the Iranian government have previously denied any military affiliation, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei announced his "spiritual" support of the movement in a personal meeting with the Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdul Salam in Tehran, in the midst of ongoing conflicts in Aden in 2019.{{cite news|url=https://fa.euronews.com/2019/08/13/iran-s-khamenei-backs-yemen-s-houthi-movement-yemen|agency=Euronews|title=خامنه‌ای خطاب به رهبران حوثی: در برابر عربستان و امارات بایستید|date=14 August 2019|access-date=21 September 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815132045/https://fa.euronews.com/2019/08/13/iran-s-khamenei-backs-yemen-s-houthi-movement-yemen|archive-date=15 August 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-iran/irans-khamenei-backs-yemens-houthi-movement-calls-for-dialogue-idUSKCN1V31W3|work=Reuters|title=Iran's Khamenei backs Yemen's Houthi movement, calls for dialogue|date=13 August 2019|access-date=21 September 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921095401/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-iran/irans-khamenei-backs-yemens-houthi-movement-calls-for-dialogue-idUSKCN1V31W3|archive-date=21 September 2019}}

In 2024, commanders from IRGC and Hezbollah were reported to be actively involved on the ground in Yemen, overseeing and directing Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, according to a report by Reuters.{{cite news |last1=Nakhoul |first1=Samia |last2=Hafezi |first2=Parisa |date=20 January 2024 |title=Exclusive: Iranian and Hezbollah commanders help direct Houthi attacks in Yemen, sources say |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iranian-hezbollah-commanders-help-direct-houthi-attacks-yemen-sources-say-2024-01-20/ |access-date=21 January 2024 |publisher=Reuters |archive-date=20 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120162434/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iranian-hezbollah-commanders-help-direct-houthi-attacks-yemen-sources-say-2024-01-20/ |url-status=live }}

In 2024, July United States targeted new sanctions focusing on IRGC ties with the group. The Houthis dismissed the sanctions as pathetic and powerless.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/irans-houthi-allies-laugh-off-bidens-pathetic-move-1927205|title=Iran's Houthi allies laugh off Biden's "pathetic" move|first1=Tom |last1=O'Connor|date=18 July 2024|website=Newsweek|access-date=19 July 2024|archive-date=19 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719025101/https://www.newsweek.com/irans-houthi-allies-laugh-off-bidens-pathetic-move-1927205|url-status=live}} In 2024, Israel also placed sanctions on the Houthis.{{cite web | url=https://nbctf.mod.gov.il/he/Announcements/Documents/NBCTFIsrael%20-%20Terror%20Organization%20Designation%20List_XL.xlsx | title=Terror Organization Designation List }}

In August 2018, Reuters reported that a confidential United Nations investigation had found the North Korean government had failed to discontinue its nuclear and missile delivery programs, and in conjunction, was "cooperating militarily with Syria" and was "trying to sell weapons to Yemen's Houthis".{{cite web | author = Nichols, Michelle | date = 3 August 2018 | title = North Korea Has Not Stopped Nuclear, Missile Program: Confidential U.N. Report | work = Reuters.com | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-sanctions-un/north-korea-has-not-stopped-nuclear-missile-program-confidential-un-report-idUSKBN1KP026 | access-date= 9 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206145649/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-sanctions-un/north-korea-has-not-stopped-nuclear-missile-program-confidential-un-report-idUSKBN1KP026 | archive-date=6 December 2018 | url-status=live }}

In August 2019, the South Korean National Intelligence Service had tracked the Scuds missiles (used to attack Saudi Arabia) back to North Korea.{{cite web |title=예멘 반군, 사우디 공격한 미사일은 '북한제 스커드' |url=https://www.newdaily.co.kr/site/data/html/2015/08/03/2015080300068.html |website=New Daily |date=3 August 2015 |language=ko |access-date=3 August 2015 |archive-date=8 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508093008/http://www.newdaily.co.kr/site/data/html/2015/08/03/2015080300068.html |url-status=live }}

In January 2024, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that North Korea had evidently shipped weapons to Houthis via Iran, based on the writings in Hangul script that were found on missiles launched towards Israel.{{Cite news|title=후티 반군이 이스라엘 향해 쏜 미사일 파편에 한글 표기|url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20240105062200504|newspaper=연합뉴스|date=5 January 2024|language=ko|access-date=12 January 2024|archive-date=23 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123013313/https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20240105062200504|url-status=live |author1=이상현 }}

North Korea considers the Houthis as a "resistance force".{{cite web|title=예멘항쟁세력 미국과 이스라엘에 대한 보복공격 단행|url=http://rodong.rep.kp/ko/index.php?MTJAMjAyNC0wMy0yNC1OMDM4QDE1QDNAQDBAMzg==|website=Rodong Sinmun|date=24 March 2024|language=ko|access-date=2 April 2024|archive-date=2 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402202125/http://rodong.rep.kp/ko/index.php?MTJAMjAyNC0wMy0yNC1OMDM4QDE1QDNAQDBAMzg==|url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Yemeni resistance force attacks US vessels, warships |url=http://www.pyongyangtimes.com.kp/blog?page=world&subpage=what&blogid=65f28dc3f7359c059987ebcd |website=The Pyongyang Times |access-date=14 March 2024 |archive-date=6 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406050815/http://www.pyongyangtimes.com.kp/blog?page=world&subpage=what&blogid=65f28dc3f7359c059987ebcd |url-status=live }}

In March 2025 after the airstrikes by the US Air Force commenced, North Korean Ambassador to Egypt, Ma Dong-hee, who is also accredited to Yemen, condemns the attacks on the Houthis as a threat to regional and global order.{{cite web |title=미국은 지역과 세계의 평화와 안정을 엄중히 파괴하는 불법무도한 힘의 사용을 즉시 중단하여야 한다 |trans-title=The United States must immediately cease the use of unlawful and reckless force that gravely disrupts regional and global peace and stability|url=http://kcna.kp/kp/article/q/7814962e12328ec63931b157c5b3d5ce89fce63487c3a9ade33c8df7d400bb17068d02242cfe72d048c740f9e39bf32b.kcmsf |lang=ko|website=Korean Central News Agency |date=18 March 2025 |access-date=18 March 2025}}{{cite web|title=북, 예멘 후티반군 공격한 미국 규탄…"난폭한 국제법 위반" |trans-title=North Korea condemns US attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen... “A violent violation of international law.”|url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20250318094300504|lang=ko|website=연합뉴스|date=18 March 2025|access-date=18 March 2025|author1=하채림}}

It was noted by Newsweek in July 2024 that the Houthis were in possession of Russian-made P-800 Oniks missiles, and that the transfer had likely occurred via Syria and Iran.{{cite news |title=Putin Mulls Arming Houthis With Cruise Missiles: Report |url=https://www.newsweek.com/putin-houthis-cruise-missiles-russia-yemen-1919434 |access-date=1 July 2024 |agency=Newsweek |archive-date=1 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240701125009/https://www.newsweek.com/putin-houthis-cruise-missiles-russia-yemen-1919434 |url-status=live }}

In July 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials saw increasing indications that Russia was considering arming the Houthis with advanced anti-ship missiles via Iranian smuggling routes in response to US support for Ukraine during Russia's invasion.{{Cite news |date=20 July 2024 |title=Report: Moscow may arm Yemen's Houthis over US support for Ukraine |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-moscow-may-arm-yemens-houthis-over-us-support-for-ukraine/ |access-date=2 August 2024 |work=The Times of Israel}} However, it did not follow through due to pushback by the US and Saudi Arabia.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-02 |title=Russia pulled back weapons shipment to Houthis amid US and Saudi pressure |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/02/politics/russia-weapons-houthis-saudi-arabia/index.html |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=3 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803021048/https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/02/politics/russia-weapons-houthis-saudi-arabia/index.html |url-status=live }}

In August 2024, Middle East Eye, citing a US official, reported that personnel of Russia's GRU were stationed in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen to assist the militia's attacks on merchant ships.{{Cite web |last=Mathews |first=Sean|date=2 August 2024| title=Exclusive: US intelligence suggests Russian military is advising Houthis inside Yemen |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-russian-military-advising-houthis-inside-yemen-us-intelligence-suggests |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en |archive-date=3 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803021048/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-russian-military-advising-houthis-inside-yemen-us-intelligence-suggests |url-status=live }}

Two China based companies were sanctioned by America in 2024 for providing "dual-use materials and components needed to manufacture, maintain, and deploy an arsenal of advanced missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against U.S. and allied interests."{{cite web | url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2627#:~:text=PRC%2DBASED%20SUPPLIERS%20FOR%20HOUTHI,range%20of%20PRC%2Dbased%20companies. | title=Treasury Sanctions Houthi Weapons Smuggling and Procurement Networks | date=8 February 2025 }}

A report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies stated that the Houthis were using weapons made in China for their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in exchange for Chinese ships having safe passage through the Sea.{{cite web |last1=FDD Flash Brief |title=China Arming Houthi Rebels in Yemen in Exchange For Unimpeded Red Sea Passage |url=https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/01/02/china-arming-houthi-rebels-in-yemen-in-exchange-for-unimpeded-red-sea-passage/ |website=FDD |date=2 January 2025 |access-date=8 March 2025}} Another report from Israel's i24 News stated that China provided the Houthis with “advanced components and guidance equipment” for their missiles.

The Institute for the Study of War reported that the Houthis supplement their weaponry through additional arms and dual use components sourced from Russia or China. For example, Yemeni border customs seized 800 Chinese-made drone propellers in a shipment bound for the Houthis, and in August 2024 had also purchased Hydrogen Fuel Cylinders from Chinese suppliers which aimed to increase the range and payloads of the Houthis’ drones.{{Cite web |title=Institute for the Study of War |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-march-25-2025 |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en}} According to The Wall Street Journal, the Houthis sent a group from Saada to Beijing to study Mandarin and manage the supply of drones and missile guidance systems from China and Hong Kong to Yemen.{{Cite web |last1=Raghavan |first1=Sudarsan |last2=al-Batati |first2=Saleh |last3=Faucon |first3=Benoit |date=April 18, 2025 |title=U.S. Accuses China of Helping the Houthis Target Their Attacks |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-accuses-china-of-helping-the-houthis-target-their-attacks-e56264da |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}

According to the United States Department of State, Chinese state-owned Chang Guang Satellite Technology Corporation has provided geospatial intelligence to the Houthis to target U.S. warships in the Red Sea.{{Cite news |last=Sevastopulo |first=Demetri |date=2025-04-18 |title=US says Chinese company is helping Houthis target American warships |url=https://www.ft.com/content/628b404b-2a24-4853-8f3c-9caad408ef8f |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-18 |work=Financial Times}}{{Cite news |date=April 18, 2025 |title=US says Chinese satellite firm is supporting Houthi attacks on US interests |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-says-chinese-satellite-firm-is-supporting-houthi-attacks-us-interests-2025-04-17/ |access-date=April 18, 2025 |work=Reuters}}

File:Anti-Houthi protests in Sana'a (2 December 2017).png between pro-Houthi forces, and forces loyal to ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh.]]

According to the Panel of Experts on Yemen established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2140, the Houthis have carried out a wide range of human rights violations, including violations of international humanitarian law and abuse of women and children. Children as young as 13 have been arrested for "indecent acts" for alleged homosexual orientation or "political cases" when their families do not comply with Houthi ideology or regulations. Minors share cells with adult prisoners, and according to unspecified reports that the Panel has deemed "credible", boys held in Al-Shahid Al-Ahmar police station in Sana'a are systematically raped.{{cite news |title=2023 Final report of the Panel of Experts on Yemen established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2140 (2014) |url=https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S_2023_833.pdf |pages=31–33 |access-date=1 January 2024 |archive-date=8 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308061203/http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S_2023_833.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=2022 Final report of the Panel of Experts on Yemen established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2140 (2014) |page=31, para. 128 |url=https://undocs.org/en/S/2022/50 |access-date=1 January 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228175102/https://undocs.org/en/S/2022/50 |url-status=live }} Aside from the Panel of Experts, London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat alleges that the Houthis have revived slavery in Yemen.{{cite news |title=Exclusive - Houthis Restore Slavery in Yemen |url=https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/1810456/exclusive-houthis-restore-slavery-yemen |access-date=20 May 2024 |work=Asharq Al-Awsat |publisher=Saudi Research and Media Group |date=13 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101151204/https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/1810456/exclusive-houthis-restore-slavery-yemen |archive-date=1 November 2020 |location=Sana'a}}

Houthis have been accused of violations of international humanitarian law such as using child soldiers,{{cite web|url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/912|title=Who Are the Houthis, Part Two: How Are They Fighting?|access-date=17 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418021840/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/912|archive-date=18 April 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url= http://www.yementimes.com/en/1828/report/4489/Checkpoint-children-Armed-Houthis-under-18.htm |title= Checkpoint children: Armed Houthis under 18 |work= Yemen Times |access-date= 17 April 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150418002313/http://www.yementimes.com/en/1828/report/4489/Checkpoint-children-Armed-Houthis-under-18.htm |archive-date= 18 April 2015 |url-status= dead }} shelling civilian areas, forced evacuations and executions.{{cite web |title=Yemen Houthi Rebels Execute 9 Over Senior Official's Killing |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-houthi-rebels-execute-9-over-senior-official-s-killing/6234225.html |access-date=13 January 2024 |date=18 September 2021 |work=VOA |archive-date=13 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113205538/https://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-houthi-rebels-execute-9-over-senior-official-s-killing/6234225.html |url-status=live }} According to Human Rights Watch, Houthis intensified their recruitment of children in 2015. The UNICEF mentioned that children with the Houthis and other armed groups in Yemen comprise up to a third of all fighters in Yemen. Human Rights Watch has further accused Houthi forces of using landmines in Yemen's third-largest city of Taizz which has caused many civilian casualties and prevent the return of families displaced by the fighting.{{cite news|title=Yemen: Houthi Landmines Claim Civilian Victims|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/08/yemen-houthi-landmines-claim-civilian-victims|access-date=14 October 2016|agency=HRW|publisher=HRW|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018204227/https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/08/yemen-houthi-landmines-claim-civilian-victims|archive-date=18 October 2016|url-status=live}} HRW has also accused the Houthis of interfering with the work of Yemen's human rights advocates and organizations.{{cite news|title=Yemen: Houthis Ban Rights Advocate's Travel|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/12/yemen-houthis-ban-rights-advocates-travel|access-date=14 October 2016|agency=HRW|publisher=HRW|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018212401/https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/12/yemen-houthis-ban-rights-advocates-travel|archive-date=18 October 2016|url-status=live}}

In 2009, HRW researcher Christoph Wilcke said that although the Republic of Yemen Government accused the Houthis of using civilians as human shields, HRW did not have enough evidence to conclude that the Houthis were intentionally doing so. Nonetheless, Wilcke stated there may have been cases HRW was not able to document. Akram Al Walidi, one of four journalists detained by the Houthis on spying charges{{Cite web |last=Swart |first=Mia |date=18 May 2020 |title=International outcry over Yemeni journalists facing death penalty |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/5/18/international-outcry-over-yemeni-journalists-facing-death-penalty |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |access-date=25 March 2024 |archive-date=25 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240325052655/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/5/18/international-outcry-over-yemeni-journalists-facing-death-penalty |url-status=live }} and then released in April 2023 as part of a prisoner exchange deal between the former and the internationally recognized government of Yemen, said he felt like the four were human shields after the Houthis moved them to one of their military camps at Sanaa in October 2020 since it was an expected target of Saudi airstrikes.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-02 |title=When journalism is a case of life or death in Yemen |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/yemen-when-journalism-is-a-case-of-life-or-death/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=Amnesty International |language=en |quote=On 11 April 2020, I was sentenced to death along with three other journalists and in October we were moved to the Central Security Forces Camp in Sana’a, a military camp belonging to the militia and it was as if we were human shields because it was an expected target for Saudi airstrikes. We thought we would die there. When airstrikes hit the camp in 2020, we felt we had cheated death. |archive-date=13 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913000622/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/yemen-when-journalism-is-a-case-of-life-or-death/ |url-status=live }}

According to the Human Rights Watch, the Houthis also use hostage taking as a tactic to generate profit. Human Rights Watch documented 16 cases in which Houthi authorities held people unlawfully, in large part to extort money from relatives or to exchange them for people held by opposing forces.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/09/25/yemen-houthi-hostage-taking|title=Yemen: Houthi Hostage-Taking|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=25 September 2018|access-date=29 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927035338/https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/09/25/yemen-houthi-hostage-taking|archive-date=27 September 2018|url-status=live}}

The United Nations World Food Programme has accused the Houthis of diverting food aid and illegally removing food lorries from distribution areas, with rations sold on the open market or given to those not entitled to it.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46722502|title=Yemen war: WFP accuses Houthi rebels of diverting food aid|publisher=BBC|date=31 December 2018|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726183812/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46722502|archive-date=26 July 2019|url-status=live}} The WFP has also warned that aid could be suspended to areas of Yemen under the control of Houthi rebels due to "obstructive and uncooperative" Houthi leaders that have hampered the independent selection of beneficiaries.{{cite web|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/world-food-programme-consider-suspension-aid-houthi-controlled-areas-yemen|title=World Food Programme to consider suspension of aid in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen|publisher=Releifweb|date=20 May 2019|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622101534/https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/world-food-programme-consider-suspension-aid-houthi-controlled-areas-yemen|archive-date=22 June 2019|url-status=live}} WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel stated "The continued blocking by some within the Houthi leadership of the biometric registration ... is undermining an essential process that would allow us to independently verify that food is reaching ... people on the brink of famine". The WFP has warned that "unless progress is made on previous agreements we will have to implement a phased suspension of aid". The Norwegian Refugee Council has stated that they share the WPF frustrations and reiterate to the Houthis to allow humanitarian agencies to distribute food.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-wfp/yemens-houthis-and-wfp-dispute-aid-control-as-millions-starve-idUSKCN1T51YO|title=Yemen's Houthis and WFP dispute aid control as millions starve|publisher=Reuters|date=4 June 2019|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614132939/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-wfp/yemens-houthis-and-wfp-dispute-aid-control-as-millions-starve-idUSKCN1T51YO|archive-date=14 June 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2019/05/warns-food-aid-yemen-suspended-190520165737749.html|title=UN warns food aid to Yemen could be suspended|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=20 May 2019|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611135952/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2019/05/warns-food-aid-yemen-suspended-190520165737749.html|archive-date=11 June 2019|url-status=live}}

The United Nations Human Rights Council published a report covering the period July 2019 to June 2020, which contained evidence of the Houthis' recruitment of boys as young as seven years old and the recruitment of 34 girls aged between 13 and 17 years of age, to act as spies, recruiters of other children, guards, medics, and members of a female fighting force. Twelve girls suffered sexual violence, arranged marriages, and child marriages as a result of their recruitment.{{cite news|title=UN: Houthi rebels in Yemen recruited teenage girls|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/houthi-rebels-yemen-recruited-teenage-girls-200909141254180.html|work=Al Jazeera|date=September 9, 2020|access-date=12 September 2020|archive-date=14 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914013444/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/houthi-rebels-yemen-recruited-teenage-girls-200909141254180.html|url-status=live}}

Under Houthi controlled areas women have been blocked from travelling without a mahram (male guardian) even for essential healthcare. This also affected humanitarian operations by the United Nations in Yemen forcing female staff to office jobs. The Houthis use allegations of prostitution as a tool for public defamation against Yemeni women including those in the diaspora engaged in politics, civil society or human rights activism alongside threats to individuals and families. Women in detention are sexually assaulted and have been subjected to virginity tests and are often blocked from access to essential goods. Torture of female detainees is also carried out by the Zaynabiyat, the Female police wing of the Houthis.{{primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

UN Panel of Experts on Yemen discovered instances of Houthi rape of female detainees to "purify" them, as a punishment, or to coerce confessions. The Panel documented cases where Houthis forced detained women to become sex slaves that also collect information for the Houthis. Documented instances include in 2021 where a female detainee was forced to have sexual intercourse with multiple men at Houthi detention centers as part of her preparation to be forced as a sex slave for important clients while also obtaining information. The Panel also received information of another detainee who was forced to become a prostitute to gather information for the Houthis in return for their release and another similar instance had been documented in 2019. This have also resulted in women who had been detained by Houthis being ostracized by society and one instance where the woman was killed by her family for bringing shame upon the family.{{primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

Anadolu Agency reported of Yemen-based rights groups documenting 1,181 violations against women committed by Houthis from 2017 to 2020.{{Cite web |last=Mohammed Alragawi |date=2021-02-23 |title=Yemen: Women captives recall ordeal in Houthi prisons |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemen-women-captives-recall-ordeal-in-houthi-prisons/2153806 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Anadolu Agency |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319102049/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/yemen-women-captives-recall-ordeal-in-houthi-prisons/2153806 |url-status=live }} Yemeni activist Samira Abdullah al-Houry was held in a Houthi jail for three months and gave numerous interviews after her release on alleged torture and rape by Houthi guards.{{Cite web |last=CJ Werleman |date=2021-03-01 |title=Yemeni Torture Victim Speaks Out Against Iranian Backed Militias |url=https://bylinetimes.com/2021/03/01/yemeni-torture-victim-speaks-out-against-iranian-backed-militias/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211215630/https://bylinetimes.com/2021/03/01/yemeni-torture-victim-speaks-out-against-iranian-backed-militias/ |archive-date=2023-12-11 |website=Byline Times |language=en-GB |quote="They have killed thousands of civilians, including women and children," alongside dozens of journalists and human rights activists. One of those activists is 33-year-old Samira Abdullah al-Houry, who was abducted from her home by armed soldiers on the night of 27 July 2019 and held in a Houthi prison for three months, where she was tortured, assaulted and raped.}} Her testimony contributed to UN Security Council sanctions being imposed on two Houthi security officials in February 2021. It was later alleged that she admitted some of her testimony was untrue and she had embellished claims at the request of Saudi officials.{{Cite news |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Wintour |date=2023-06-05 |title=Yemeni activist who revealed Houthi sexual abuses 'detained by Saudi Arabia' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/05/yemeni-activist-samira-al-houri-revealed-houthi-sexual-abuses-detained-saudi-arabia |access-date=2024-03-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=13 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913000623/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/05/yemeni-activist-samira-al-houri-revealed-houthi-sexual-abuses-detained-saudi-arabia |url-status=live }}

According to Amnesty International on 9 February 2024, two Houthi-run courts in Yemen sentenced 48 individuals either to death, flogging or prison over charges related to same-sex conduct in the past month.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-09 |title=Yemen: Huthis must stop executions and release dozens facing LGBTI charges |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/yemen-huthis-must-stop-executions-and-release-dozens-facing-lgbti-charges/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=Amnesty International |language=en |archive-date=13 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913001126/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/yemen-huthis-must-stop-executions-and-release-dozens-facing-lgbti-charges/ |url-status=live }}

According to Human Rights Watch, Houthi militias have "beaten, raped, and tortured detained migrants and asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa."{{Cite web |last=CJ Werleman |title=Reports of mass executions in Yemen blamed on Houthis |url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/reports-of-mass-executions-in-yemen-blamed-on-houthis-43256 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=TRT World |language=en |quote=Houthi militias have been accused of war crimes and mass atrocities against civilians in Taiz since 2015, including using banned antipersonnel landmines, firing artillery indiscriminately into populated areas, denying crucial medical and humanitarian aid, and have "beaten, raped, and tortured detained migrants and asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa, including women and children," according to Human Rights Watch. |archive-date=19 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319102049/https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/reports-of-mass-executions-in-yemen-blamed-on-houthis-43256 |url-status=live }} UN experts have warned that female migrants face sexual violence, forced labor, and forced drug trafficking by smugglers who collaborate with the Houthi-controlled Yemen Immigration, Passport and Nationality Authority (IPNA).{{Cite web |date=2022-12-07 |title=Warring Parties in Yemen Silent Amid Reports of Migrant Abuse |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/12/07/warring-parties-yemen-silent-amid-reports-migrant-abuse |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en |archive-date=13 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913001145/https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/12/07/warring-parties-yemen-silent-amid-reports-migrant-abuse |url-status=live }}

According to a 2009 leaked US Embassy cable, Houthis have reportedly established courts and prisons in areas they control. They impose their own laws on local residents, demand protection money, and dispense rough justice by ordering executions. AP's reporter, Ahmad al-Haj argued that the Houthis were winning hearts and minds by providing security in areas long neglected by the Yemeni government while limiting the arbitrary and abusive power of influential sheikhs. According to the Civic Democratic Foundation, Houthis help resolve conflicts between tribes and reduce the number of revenge killings in areas they control. The US ambassador believed that the reports that explain Houthi role as arbitrating local disputes were likely.

A survey conducted in 2024 by the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies found that only 8% of Yemenis in Houthi-controlled areas had a positive view of the Houthi movement, compared to 3% in both government-controlled areas and contested areas. Conversely, 20%, 34%, and 39% in these areas, respectively, expressed negative views.{{Cite web |title=A Snapshot of Yemeni Public Sentiment on Red Sea Developments - The Yemen Review, Quarterly: July-September 2024 |url=https://sanaacenter.org/the-yemen-review/july-sept-2024/23516 |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies |language=en}}

The United States and its allies have intensified sanctions against Yemen's Houthi rebels in response to their escalating attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. On April 28, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned three shipping companies—Zaas Shipping & Trading Co, Great Success Shipping Co, and Bagsak Shipping Co—for delivering oil and gas products to the Houthi-controlled port of Ras Isa, aiming to disrupt the group's financial networks. These measures are part of a broader strategy to curb the Houthis' capabilities, which include targeting vessels in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza conflict.{{Cite news |date=2025 |title=US sanctions shipping companies, vessels for delivery oil and gas to Houthis |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us-imposes-new-houthi-related-sanctions-treasury-website-shows-2025-04-28/?utm_}}{{Cite news |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |last2= |first2= |date=2025 |title=Yemen's Houthi rebels say 68 dead in US airstrike on prison |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/28/yemen-houthi-rebels-say-scores-killed-in-us-airstrike-on-prison?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-04-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |title=UK and US sanction key Houthi figures to protect maritime security in the Red Sea |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-us-sanction-key-houthi-figures-to-protect-maritime-security-in-the-red-sea?utm_ |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}

The U.S. launched a military campaign against Yemen in mid-March 2025, which it said was directed at Houthi military and strategic targets. The Houthis said women and children were killed in the attacks.{{Cite web |title=Iran's Support of the Houthis: What to Know {{!}} Council on Foreign Relations |url=https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/irans-support-houthis-what-know |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.cfr.org |language=en}} The Houthis, backed by Iran,{{Cite web |date=2024-05-29 |title=Iran Provides Houthis with Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile: IRGC Media |url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/202405293192 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.iranintl.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Hakamian |first=Mahmoud |date=2024-05-29 |title=Iran News: Tehran Gave Ballistic Missile Technology to Yemeni Houthis, IRGC Mouthpiece Confirms |url=https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/anews/iran-news-tehran-gave-ballistic-missile-technology-to-yemeni-houthis-irgc-mouthpiece-confirms/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=NCRI |language=en-US}} state that their operations, which have affected global trade, are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.{{Cite news |date=2023 |title=The Threat to Maritime Security in the Red Sea |url=https://ict.org.il/the-threat-to-maritime-security-in-the-red-sea/}}{{Cite web |last=Online |first=Yemen |title=Houthi statement: "We will continue to prevent Israeli navigation in the Red Sea" |url=https://www.yemenonline.info/politics/8932 |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Yemen Online {{!}} |language=ar}}

{{portal|Shia Islam}}

• Outline of the Yemeni crisis, revolution, and civil war (2011–present)
• Timeline of the Yemeni crisis (2011–present)
• Red Sea crisis
• List of military units named after people
• Iran–Houthi relations

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|22em}}

{{refbegin|35em}}

• {{cite book | last= Haykel| first= Bernard| chapter= The Huthi Movement's religious and political ideology and its relationship to Zaydism in Yemen| editor-last = Hamidaddin| editor-first = Abdullah| title = The Huthi Movement in Yemen: Ideology, Ambition and Security in the Arab Gulf|location= London| publisher = I.B.Tauris| date = 2022| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HZV0EAAAQBAJ| pages= 17–36| isbn = 978-0755644285}}
• {{Cite journal |url = https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CTC-SENTINEL-092018.pdf |title = The Houthi War Machine: From Guerrilla War to State Capture |last = Knights |first = Michael |date = September 2018 |journal = CTC Sentinel |publisher = Combating Terrorism Center |issue = 8 |volume = 11 |location = West Point, New York |pages = 15–23 |access-date = 24 March 2020 |archive-date = 24 March 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200324102455/https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CTC-SENTINEL-092018.pdf |url-status = dead }}

{{refend}}

• {{cite web|url=https://www.commonspace.eu/analysis/analysis-origins-houthi-supremacist-ideology|title=Analysis: Origins of the Houthi supremacist ideology|last1=Noman|first1=Ahmed|last2=Shamsan|first2=Mahmoud|publisher=commonspace.eu|date=2022-08-23|accessdate=2024-07-03}}

• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2lNDwAAQBAJ|title=Tribes and Politics in Yemen: A History of the Houthi Conflict|last=Brandt|first=Marieke|date=15 November 2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780190911454|language=en}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.zenithonline.de/politik/interview/?article=744&cHash=b6fabecb08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718162816/http://www.zenithonline.de/politik/interview/?article=744&cHash=b6fabecb08 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2011 |title=Interview with exiled Houthi |publisher=Counterpunch |date=3 February 2015 |access-date=26 March 2015}}

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