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The Iran-backed Houthi terrorist movement has yet to enter the conflict on Iran’s side but in recent days has been ratcheting up its rhetoric in support of Tehran, with its leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, declaring that it was prepared to enter the war against the U.S. and Israel if necessary.
“Regarding military escalation and action, our fingers are on the trigger, ready to respond at any moment should developments warrant it,” al-Houthi said on Thursday.
“The reason why the Houthis have not intervened is they are last line of resistance for the axis. Especially after other axis members were degraded,” Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an expert on Yemen and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Digital.
Thousands of people gather at Sabeen Square, under the control of the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, to protest the killing of Iranâs leader Ali Khamenei in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes and to condemn the attacks on Iran, in Sanaa, Yemen on March 06, 2026. (Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The official slogan of the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) reads, “Allah is Greater. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse on the Jews. Victory to Islam.”
Al-Dawsari, who has written extensively about Yemen and the Houthis, said: “I think the Houthis will intervene at some point. The longer the war continues, the more likely the Houthis will intervene. I think what the Houthis want to do — and they have been itching for a while to do — is to attack the Saudis. If the Saudis intervene, the Houthis will find a reason to attack the Saudis.”
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Houthi terrorists walk over British and U.S. flags at a rally in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and the recent Houthi strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Feb. 4, 2024, on the outskirts of Sana’a, Yemen. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
The Islamic Republic of Iran formed an “Axis of Resistance” prior to Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. Iran’s axis coalition of Shiite and Sunni terrorist proxies, includes the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis, Shiite militias in Iraq, and the now-defunct Baathist regime in Syria.
Within the first few weeks of his administration, President Biden launched a reset with the Houthis and pressured the Saudis to end the war against the bellicose Houthi movement. “The war in Yemen must end,” Biden declared in his first major foreign policy speech about the Mideast in February 2021.
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A general view of Tehran with smoke visible in the distance after explosions were reported in the city, on March 2, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Biden’s reversal of American support for the Saudi-led allies in their war against the Houthis was also coupled with his administration de-listing the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. President Donald Trump swiftly reimposed the terrorist designation for the Houthis at the start of his second term and launched military strikes against the terrorists in Yemen.
Al-Dawsari also said that another reason why the Houthis have yet to join the conflict is that it’s not in the interests of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “to drag the Houthis into a suicidal war.” She argues that “If the Iranian regime collapses, and if a new regime emerges, I think the IRGC will regroup in Yemen or Somalia. Yemen is the key ally.”
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There has been discussion between the IRGC and Houthis about why the “Houthis’ continued existence is of strategic importance to the IRGC,” she said.
“The IRGC can’t afford to lose the Houthis. Yemen is so important to them. They need to preserve the Houthis for tomorrow for the IRGC to continue even after the regime,” Al-Dawsari continued.
This handout screen grab captured from a video shows Yemen’s Houthi fighters’ takeover of the Galaxy Leader Cargo in the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, on November 20, 2023 in the Red Sea, Yemen. (Photo by Houthi Movement via Getty Images)
She noted that “Houthis have established themselves in the Horn of Africa. The IRGC is behind the Houthis. Intervention might be symbolic by the Houthis.” She continued that Iran’s “tactic now is to prolong the war and widen it across the region and to put more pressure on the U.S.”
In May 2025, Trump announced that the U.S. would stop its air bombing campaign against the Houthis because, he said, the Houthis “don’t want to fight.”
“They just don’t want to, and we will honor that. We will stop the bombings,” Trump said. The Houthis had launched attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea, as well as the Jewish state, to support their ally Hamas in Gaza.
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Al-Dawsari said after the Trump announcement the Houthis did not attack American ships.” They know Trump does not joke. They know they will suffer consequences.”
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