Central Asia (CA) After four years of relative calm, the war between Yemen’s Houthis and the country’s internationally recognized government and its backer Saudi Arabia has resumed. After announcing the start of a full-scale military campaign against the Houthis, Saudi-led forces said on social media on October 4 that their goal was to “eliminate” the group, writes Bloomberg.
This is an ambitious goal. Once seen as a ragtag faction fighting in pick-up truck sandals, the Houthis have demonstrated their resilience and influence. Having captured the capital Sanaa in 2014, the Houthis now control territory where most of Yemen’s population lives. They previously withstood years of Saudi-backed military efforts to oust them, as well as US, British and Israeli bombing campaigns designed to punish the group for attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and on Israel itself.
Although the Houthis have long received military assistance from Iran, they have found other ways to arm themselves and have demonstrated growing military sophistication. Houthi airstrikes on Riyadh’s main airport on October 10 and 11 killed at least 16 people and wounded hundreds, making it the deadliest attack on the country in decades.
Who are the Houthis?
The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, or “Supporters of God”, belong to a clan originating from the northwestern Saada province of Yemen. They are followers of the Zaydi branch of Shiite Islam, which makes up about a third of the country’s population.
The Houthis emerged in the 1990s after the unification of North and South Yemen, launching a series of uprisings against the government. Their capture of Sanaa in 2014 sparked a civil war that still divides the country.
The Houthis are opposed to the West and Israel and are designated as terrorist organizations by the United States and the European Union. They are part of the so-called axis of resistance created by Iran, which also includes Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both of which are also classified as terrorist organizations by the United States and other countries. These groups receive training, technical expertise and weapons from Iran.
How close are the Houthis and Iran?
The Houthis coordinate closely with Iran and largely share its strategic goals, but make their own decisions. Iran is an important source of weapons for the Houthis, but not the only one. They are able to exploit tribal smuggling networks within Yemen and are increasingly sourcing commercially available components and raw materials from further afield, including China. The group expanded its efforts to assemble and manufacture its own weapons. By reducing their dependence on Iranian supplies of off-the-shelf weapons, the Houthis have made it more difficult for adversaries to disrupt their operations.
Why has the war in Yemen resumed?
By 2022, both sides in the Yemen war had reason to abandon hostilities. Saudi Arabia intervened in the war in 2015 with the aim of restoring the internationally recognized government to power. But the Houthis remained in their positions and launched retaliatory attacks on Saudi Arabia using missiles and drones. For the Houthis, the break in fighting presented an opportunity to win concessions, including increased fuel imports and the right to operate a limited number of commercial flights from Sanaa airport. The UN-brokered truce has largely ended cross-border attacks. Although it technically expired six months later, the precarious lull persisted for almost four years.
Then, on July 13 this year, Saudi planes struck Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation from landing. The delegation was returning from the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran. Saudi Arabia has long accused Iran of using commercial passenger planes as an air bridge to fly weapons and military experts into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The Houthis responded by firing missiles and drones at Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia. On July 20, they announced a so-called “maritime blockade” of Saudi Arabia, warning shipping companies that their ships risked being attacked if they used the kingdom’s ports. They then resumed their previous practice of targeting shipping in the Red Sea, this time focusing on those they identified as linked to Saudi Arabia.
The militias then began attacking Saudi cities, military positions and oil infrastructure, prompting retaliatory Saudi airstrikes. Inside Yemen, the Houthis have intensified their campaign against the Saudi-backed government.
Saudi-led forces are fighting the Houthis in Yemen.
The Iran-backed group is firing missiles and drones at Saudi cities.
In September, in their biggest territorial offensive in years, they advanced south, consolidating control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, an important oil export corridor. Reversing these gains was one of the main goals of the campaign launched by Saudi-backed Yemeni forces.
What’s at stake in this fight?
For Saudi Arabia, defeating the Houthis would mean eliminating the kingdom’s longtime enemy. The militia attacks risk undermining the economic ambitions of the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who wants to attract billions of dollars of foreign investment in projects ranging from data centers to electric vehicle manufacturing.
For other countries, the fall of the Houthis would end a threat to shipping that has disrupted traffic in the Red Sea for years. When the Houthis first began attacking shipping in the region in 2023, they said it was in retaliation for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza that followed the Hamas attacks on October 7. The group initially said it only attacked ships linked to Israel. But ships that had no direct connection with Israel also came under fire. The Houthis suspended their attacks in the Red Sea for nine months after reaching a ceasefire in Gaza in October 2025.
The shipping route through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb is the most convenient for ships traveling between Europe and Asia. But to avoid the Red Sea entirely, many shipping companies are now sending their ships around the southern tip of Africa – a costly detour that is thousands of kilometers longer and can add up to two weeks to travel times.
Is the Saudi-led coalition receiving any assistance in the fight against the Houthis?
The Saudi Arabian government has asked its allies for help in the fight against the Houthis. The response was lukewarm, indicating a lack of enthusiasm to seriously invest in the fight against such a persistent enemy.
Türkiye and Pakistan, which signed a defense cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia in August, have signaled they are willing to send troops or weapons to the kingdom, but not on an offensive basis.
Britain provided aircraft to refuel Saudi fighters in the air, and France said it would send troops and radar systems to protect Yanbu, the kingdom’s oil export center on the Red Sea.
The US continues to provide intelligence to Saudi Arabia, but President Donald Trump is keen to avoid further military escalation in the Middle East ahead of his country’s November 3 midterm elections.
