Explained: What do the Houthis want – and why does the Yemen front matter in the Iran war?
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group has reportedly been closing in on controlling the coastline along the Bab el Mandeb Strait in recent weeks, threatening to throttle a global energy market already greatly restricted by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
That closure has seen the Red Sea become a critical alternative outlet for the transport of oil and other products.
A serious disruption would mean both of the Middle East’s major oil export routes are shut simultaneously.
Here is why it matters…
Who are the Houthis?
The Houthis are a political and religious movement that rules over most of northwest Yemen.
The group emerged in north Yemen in the 1990s as a revival movement for the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam, which had once ruled Yemen.
It fought a series of guerrilla wars against Yemen’s national army and consolidated its control over northern Yemen when the previous government was brought down during the Arab Spring.
Why are they fighting Saudi Arabia?
Yemen has been in a state of intermittent civil war since 2015, following the Houthis’ capture of Sanaa, the capital city.
Saudi Arabia sought to curb Iranian influence and chaos along its borders.
After years of fighting, the UN brokered a truce in 2022, which has now all but collapsed with the Iran war.
How is this linked to the Iran war?
Iran backs the Houthis as part of its regional “Axis of Resistance”, which includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi militias.
The Houthis entered the conflict when Saudi Arabia attacked the Houthi-controlled airport of Sanaa, claiming it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.
The group said they would respond “to the blockade with a blockade” of Saudi ships and Red Sea ports.
Saudi Arabia increasingly relies on the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb Strait conduit for oil exports since Iran blocked the route through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis have since pushed to control the coastline around the strait and targeted cities in Saudi Arabia, with strikes injuring 73 people there last week.
What does each side want?
Reignited fighting has since played into the hands of all sides.
Iran wants escalation in Yemen to “put more pressure on the Trump administration”, Baraa Shiban, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, told the New York Times.
The Houthis push for political concessions, such as lifted restrictions on planes and ships entering its territory, while the Yemeni government wants to recapture land with Saudi backing.
How could this affect the international economy?
The Bab el Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
It is one of the world’s most important routes for crude oil from the Gulf bound for the Mediterranean.
If shipping through the strait is disrupted, it could exacerbate the already fraught economic situation caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
This could be the point when the war in Yemen has a real global impact, Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons says.
Watch his analysis in the video…