Who Are the Houthis? How a Yemeni Rebel Movement Became a Red Sea Power
From a religious revival movement in Yemen's rugged northern mountains to an armed force capable of firing ballistic missiles, attacking oil infrastructure and threatening one of the world's most important shipping corridors, the rise of the Houthis is one of the most consequential transformations in modern Middle Eastern politics.
Formally known as Ansar Allah, the Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, and govern areas containing a large majority of the country's population. Iranian military assistance has strengthened their missile, drone and intelligence capabilities, although the movement has indigenous Yemeni roots and should not simply be understood as an organisation created by Tehran.
Their importance has increased dramatically since attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea began after the Israel-Hamas war erupted in 2023. Now, in September 2026, the Houthis are again at the centre of a rapidly widening regional crisis after major attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Who Are the Houthis?
The Houthis emerged from Yemen's Zaydi Shia community, concentrated primarily in the country's north.
Zaydism is a branch of Shia Islam with a long history in Yemen. Zaydi religious leaders ruled substantial parts of the country for centuries, until the overthrow of the imamate in 1962.
The modern Houthi movement developed decades later amid concerns among some Zaydis about declining political influence, economic marginalisation and changing religious currents.
The organisation eventually became formally known as Ansar Allah "Supporters of God." The name "Houthi" comes from the family that played a central role in its development.
Hussein al-Houthi and the Birth of an Insurgency
One of the most important figures in the movement's history was Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaydi religious and political leader.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, a Zaydi revival movement developed in northern Yemen. Hussein al-Houthi became increasingly critical of the Yemeni government and of US influence in the Middle East.
Relations with President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government deteriorated.
In 2004, Yemeni government forces attempted to arrest Hussein al-Houthi. Fighting followed in the northern governorate of Saada, and he was killed that September.
His death did not destroy the movement.
Instead, it helped transform it into a prolonged insurgency.
Between 2004 and 2010, Houthi fighters and Yemen's government fought a series of conflicts commonly known as the six Saada wars.
By the end of them, the Houthis had developed considerable battlefield experience and a stronger military organisation.
From Local Rebellion to National Power
The next turning point came with the Arab Spring.
Mass protests erupted in Yemen in 2011 against longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Eventually Saleh transferred power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
But Yemen's political transition struggled.
Economic hardship, political fragmentation, tribal rivalries and weak state institutions created an increasingly unstable environment.
The Houthis took advantage.
Moving south from their northern stronghold, Houthi forces expanded their territorial control.
Then came the event that transformed the movement forever.
September 2014: The Houthis Take Sanaa
Houthi forces entered Sanaa, Yemen's capital, in September 2014.
They seized important government and military institutions and rapidly became the dominant political and military force in the city.
After negotiations collapsed, the presidential palace was seized in January 2015. Hadi eventually fled, first to Aden and then to Saudi Arabia.
A movement that had begun in northern Yemen had effectively become a governing power.
Why Did Saudi Arabia Enter the Yemen War?
The Houthi takeover alarmed Saudi Arabia, which shares a long border with Yemen.
Riyadh feared that a powerful Iran-aligned armed movement could become entrenched directly on its southern frontier.
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia assembled a coalition of Arab states and began a military intervention intended to restore Yemen's internationally recognised government and push back Houthi forces.
Instead of producing a quick victory, the intervention developed into years of war.
Air strikes, ground fighting, economic collapse and restrictions on trade contributed to an enormous humanitarian crisis.
The conflict also gave the Houthis another powerful political narrative: resistance to foreign intervention.
Iran and the Houthis: Proxy or Partner?
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of the Houthi story.
Iran is now the Houthis' most important external military supporter.
Iranian assistance has included weapons, training, intelligence and technology. Intercepted shipments have contained components associated with missiles, drones and other sophisticated weaponry.
But describing the Houthis simply as an organisation created and controlled by Iran would be misleading.
The movement originated inside Yemen and was not founded by Tehran. It also follows Yemen's Zaydi tradition rather than the Twelver Shia Islam dominant in Iran.
CFR notes that some experts therefore prefer describing the Houthis as an informal Iranian partner rather than a conventional proxy.
Iran nevertheless benefits strategically from the relationship.
The Houthis give Tehran an armed partner close to Saudi Arabia and alongside the Red Sea, while Iranian technology and expertise have helped the movement project military power far beyond Yemen.
How Did the Houthis Build a Missile and Drone Arsenal?
The transformation of the Houthi military has been extraordinary.
What began primarily as a guerrilla force now possesses ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and long-range attack drones.
Iranian assistance has played an important role in that evolution.
CFR reports that Iranian support has helped the Houthis acquire sophisticated weapons and the expertise necessary to project power into the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The Houthis have also demonstrated an ability to conceal weapons and launch infrastructure across Yemen's mountainous terrain, making their arsenal difficult to eliminate completely through air strikes.
That helps explain why repeated military campaigns have damaged but not destroyed the movement's ability to launch attacks.
Why the Red Sea Changed Everything
For years, Yemen's war was often viewed internationally as a devastating but largely regional conflict.
That changed after October 2023.
Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Houthis began firing missiles and drones toward Israel and attacking ships in and around the Red Sea.
The Houthis said their maritime campaign was intended to support Palestinians.
Whatever the political justification, the attacks had consequences far beyond Yemen.
Commercial vessels began avoiding the Red Sea.
Some shipping companies rerouted vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, adding distance and time to voyages between Asia and Europe.
Suddenly, the Houthis were no longer simply participants in Yemen's civil war.
They had acquired the ability to disrupt international commerce.
What Is Bab el-Mandeb — and Why Does It Matter?
The key to understanding Houthi strategic power is geography.
At Yemen's southwestern edge lies the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The narrow waterway connects:
Indian Ocean → Gulf of Aden → Bab el-Mandeb → Red Sea → Suez Canal → Mediterranean Sea
It is one of the world's major maritime chokepoints.
CFR notes that in the first half of 2023, roughly 12% of globally seaborne-traded oil passed through Bab el-Mandeb.
Control of Yemen's western coastline therefore gives the Houthis something far more strategically significant than territory alone:
proximity to a major artery of global trade.
The Houthis, Israel and the United States
Houthi involvement in the Gaza conflict eventually triggered direct military responses.
The United States and Britain carried out strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen after attacks on international shipping.
Israel has separately attacked Houthi-controlled infrastructure in Yemen.
The conflict escalated further in 2026.
After the wider US-Israel confrontation with Iran began in February 2026, the Houthis opened another front. They fired ballistic missiles toward Israel beginning in late March, according to CFR.
Yemen was increasingly becoming part of a much larger regional confrontation.
September 2026: Houthis and Saudi Arabia Clash Again
The latest escalation makes the history particularly relevant now.
On September 8, 2026, Houthi forces launched ballistic-missile and drone attacks against targets across southern Saudi Arabia.
Saudi authorities said 73 people were wounded, including women and children.
Targets identified by the Houthis included Saudi Aramco facilities around Abha, Najran and Jizan, along with an air base at Khamis Mushait. Fires erupted and operations at some energy facilities were temporarily halted.
Saudi Arabia responded with strikes inside Yemen.
By September 9, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Saudi aircraft had conducted dozens of strikes across Yemeni provinces and warned that they would not go unanswered.
AP reported on September 10 that the renewed fighting had also produced civilian casualties in Yemen, including deaths following a strike on a prison in Jawf province.
The escalation threatens to unravel the relative calm that had followed the 2022 truce.
Why the Houthis Matter to India
For India, the Houthi story is not a distant Middle Eastern conflict.
It intersects directly with trade, energy security and maritime strategy.
India's geographic position means large volumes of trade with Europe traditionally travel through the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Bab el-Mandeb, Red Sea and Suez Canal.
If security deteriorates around Bab el-Mandeb, vessels may instead travel around Africa.
That can mean longer journeys, higher fuel consumption, greater insurance costs and disruption to supply chains.
There is also a wider energy-security issue.
The renewed Houthi-Saudi confrontation is unfolding at the same time as instability around the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude moved above $100 this week amid concerns about Middle Eastern supplies.
A simultaneous threat to Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb would therefore place pressure on two strategic maritime chokepoints connected to global energy and trade.
For an oil-importing economy such as India, that deserves close attention.
How Much of Yemen Do the Houthis Control?
The Houthis do not control all of Yemen.
But they control some of its most politically and demographically important territory.
Their administration is centred in Sanaa, while Houthi authority extends across much of Yemen's north and west.
CFR estimates that Houthi-controlled territory represents around one-third of Yemen geographically but contains roughly two-thirds of its population.
Other areas are controlled by forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised authorities and different southern or local armed groups.
Yemen consequently remains deeply fragmented.
Are the Houthis a Terrorist Organisation?
The answer depends partly on jurisdiction.
The United States currently designates the Houthis as a terrorist organisation.
But terminology matters in journalism.
Houthi, Ansar Allah, armed movement, rebel movement, and Iran-aligned group describe the organisation and its political-military position.
Where a legal designation is relevant, Updated+ should specify which government or authority made that designation, rather than treating a national legal classification as a universally accepted description.
From Mountain Insurgency to Red Sea Power
The Houthi story demonstrates how dramatically the strategic importance of a non-state armed movement can change.
Its evolution can be reduced to a remarkable sequence:
Zaydi revival movement
↓
Northern Yemeni insurgency
↓
Capture of Sanaa
↓
War with Saudi-led coalition
↓
Growing Iranian military support
↓
Missile and drone capability
↓
Red Sea shipping campaign
↓
Direct confrontation with regional powers
The most important factor may ultimately be geography.
The Houthis occupy territory beside Bab el-Mandeb, within missile and drone range of Saudi Arabia and close to some of the world's most important maritime routes.
That has allowed a movement born in the mountains of northern Yemen to become capable of influencing oil prices, shipping decisions and military calculations thousands of kilometres away.
The renewed fighting in September 2026 shows that the Houthi question is no longer simply about who controls Yemen.
It is increasingly about who can threaten the gateways through which global trade and energy move.
UPDATED+ EDITORIAL NOTE
Updated+ distinguishes between independently established facts, claims by parties to the conflict and disputed allegations. Descriptions of Iranian influence, military attacks and casualties are attributed where necessary because Yemen's conflict remains highly contested.
