di Beatrice Nicolini
The numerous and indiscriminate attacks carried out by the Houthi group on commercial ships and oil tankers in the Bab el Mandeb Strait, in the Red Sea, form the core of international crises involving the strategic routes between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea – representing 12% of global trade – and relations among the Gulf States, the Middle East, and the Horn of Africa. The Houthi (al-Ḥūthiyyūn) are a predominantly Zaydi Shiite armed group that originated in Yemen towards the end of the twentieth century and became actively anti-governmental in the early 2000s. The group established an armed organization self-identified as the ‘Partisans of God’ (Anṣār Allāh) or ‘Believing Youth’ (al-Shabāb al-Muʾmin). The name is derived from the founder, Hassan Al Huthi, but the group lacks internal homogeneity.
Since 2020, the Houthi group controls two-thirds of Yemen’s territory, home to approximately 33 million people. Yemen shares its borders with Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the east. Despite the presence of largely untapped oil and natural gas reserves, the country remains one of the poorest globally. Immigrant remittances constitute 40% of the gross national product, while limited infrastructure and persistent violence hinder effective development.
In 1839, British colonial expansion established a military and a commercial base in the port of Aden, later integrated with the creation of the Suez Canal in 1869. The southern region of the Arabian Peninsula was divided between British influence and the formally Turkish area, as Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1918. In the 1960s, the country became a focal point of ‘Proxy Wars’ – conflicts between socialist and capitalist ideologies that further impoverished the region. After years of civil war until 1990, Southern and Northern Yemen politically unified, but tensions resurfaced after four years.
Since 2015, the Houthi group has consolidated its control in a war-torn Yemen, receiving military support from Iran primarily aimed at countering Saudi influence. The conflict in Yemen is sometimes oversimplified as a sectarian war between factions supported by Wahhabi Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, a narrative that fails to do justice to the complexity of violence fueled by regional and international interests.
Elizabeth Kendall, a Yemen’s expert, argues that the link between the Houthis and Iran was initially instrumental to Iran’s goals in the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region. Iran sought to position itself as a significant sponsor of the armed group, which escalated to the clear Iranian origin of drones and ballistic missiles since 2020 amid escalating violence. Yemen now appears on the brink of a new fragmentation. The Houthis present themselves as true patriots and loyal defenders of the Yemeni nation, contrasting with other armed groups like Al Qaeda and the often untrustworthy political-military factions that have betrayed local populations.
Recent attacks in one of the global ‘chokepoints’ in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean have proven to be extremely miscalculated. The repercussions on international supply chains – with insurance claims reaching up to two million dollars for passages through the Bab el Mandeb Strait – could lead to severe economic and commercial crises. Extending journeys by twelve-fifteen days, forcing ships to circumnavigate Africa, could increase costs by up to one million dollars per route and inevitably slow down delivery times. Nevertheless, the Houthis maintain their genuine belief that God is on their side, fueling their seemingly indomitable militancy.
Beatrice Nicolini is Full Professor of History of Africa. She teaches History and Institutions of Africa; Religions, Conflicts and Slavery and Indian Ocean World at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
