Fact Sheet: Yemeni Houthis And Their Weapon Lifeline

Since 2014, the Houthi militia, an extremist Shia group supported by Iran, has seized control of Yemen’s most populated regions. In retaliation, the coalition headed by Saudi Arabia began a military operation in 2015 with the goal of keeping the group from capturing all of Yemen and restoring the internationally recognized Government of Yemen. 

The Houthis were able to hold the coalition forces at a standstill and fire hundreds of rockets and missiles at Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates thanks to training and weapons from the “axis of resistance,” which included designated terrorist organizations Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). 

The Houthis seem unwilling to compromise and are probably going to continue their violent campaign in Yemen, despite ongoing international efforts to mediate a peaceful end to the conflict that has destroyed the nation.

External Support

Yemen appears to be the first battleground the Trump administration will take against Iran. The Houthis are a Yemeni militia with roots in the country’s Zaydi Shiite tradition. They are currently fighting alongside large portions of the army and northern tribal groupings aligned with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against a variety of domestic opponents. 

To the delight of Trump’s Persian Gulf allies, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the president’s national security team appears to view the Houthis much like they view Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s neighbor, was concerned that the Houthis may seize power and turn Yemen into a satellite state for Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-enemy. It launched an air campaign in March 2015 alongside other Arab nations with the goal of driving out the Houthis and bringing back Mr. Hadi’s administration. The US, UK, and France provided the coalition with information and logistical support.

Humanitarian Impact

According to the UN, Yemen is facing the greatest humanitarian disaster on earth. One in seven of the population, or 4.5 million individuals, are said to have been displaced. 80% of the population, or 24.1 million people, require protection and humanitarian assistance. According to the UN, six million people in Yemen are in danger of starvation, and tens of thousands of people are presently suffering in conditions akin to famine. 60% of the predicted 377,000 fatalities caused by the conflict in Yemen by the beginning of 2022 were attributed to malnutrition, poor access to healthcare, and contaminated water, according to UN estimates. It states that the conflict is believed to have directly resulted in the deaths or injuries of over 11,000 youngsters. One of the worst cholera epidemics ever documented has also affected Yemen; since 2016, there have been 2.5 million probable cases and almost 4,000 fatalities associated with the disease.

Read: Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid

Domestic Arms Production

Ballistic missiles and drone attacks have been used by the Houthis to target locations in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, notably oil installations, while also inflicting injuries on civilians. Iran is said by US and Saudi authorities to be transporting weaponry, including drones, to the Houthis in defiance of a UN arms embargo. 

The claim has been refuted by Iran. Tens of thousands of civilians have died as a result of thousands of airstrikes carried out by the coalition led by Saudi Arabia. Among these are “double tap” strikes, in which an enemy troop is hit by one strike in the first, and the individuals who attempt to rescue them are hit by the second. The Houthis’ ballistic missiles, which were aimed at people in Jizan, in the southwest of the country, were intercepted and destroyed, according to the coalition commanded by Saudi Arabia.

UN Arms Embargo Violations

Tens of thousands of people have died as a result of the fighting, and millions more are on the verge of starvation. The Yemen conflict has been dubbed the biggest humanitarian calamity in history by the UN. The UN-sponsored agreement for a truce and army withdrawal from the port city of Hodeidah, which became the center of the battle last year when the coalition attempted to take control of the port the Houthis’ primary supply route and a lifeline for millions of Yemenis is in jeopardy due to the recent upsurge in violence. 

Read More: Is the United States Baiting Iran into a War?

Executive Order (E.O.) 13611

The Houthis then utilized the confiscated property to pay for the purchase and smuggling of weapons. Executive Order (E.O.) 13611 sanctioned Saleh al-Shaer for actions that endangered Yemen’s peace, security, or stability either directly or indirectly. 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has also designated Mansur al-Sa’adi, Commander of the Houthi Naval Forces, and Ahmad ‘Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi, Commander of the Houthi Air Force, in accordance with E.O. 13611, for actions that pose a direct or indirect danger to Yemen’s peace, security, or stability. 

Both were accused of having contributed to the purchase of weapons manufactured in Iran and using those weapons in the civil conflict in Yemen. Whatever the circumstances behind the murders of the Houthi commanders, on September 21, 2023, the Houthis openly showcased their newest weapons at an annual military parade in Sanaa. While the missiles and rockets were being dragged past the podium

Given Yemen’s lack of a recognized advanced military industrial base, it makes sense to believe that the lately reported “leaps” in domestic production* are actually the result of outside assistance. Considering that the Houthis have always gotten their armaments mostly from Iran and that the new Houthi missiles clearly resemble existing Iranian missile systems, it appears extremely likely that the Islamic Republic is the source of these weapons.

Final Thoughts

The Houthi strikes on Israel following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-Israel conflict didn’t seem to involve newly revealed weaponry. However, some of the footage from Houthi propaganda depicting rocket attacks had been previously aired. Nonetheless, these strikes underscore the threat posed by the extremist Houthi movement to the region, highlighting the importance of uncovering and thwarting their attempts to acquire military hardware.