Having spent a month on the sidelines, Yemen’s Houthis have entered the regional conflict between their ally, Iran, and its enemies, the United States and Israel.So far, however, that involvement has been limited – with only the March 28 confirmed attack on Israel so far – and has not targeted shipping in the Red Sea, as the Houthis previously did following the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe question, therefore, is now how far the Houthis are willing to go in this war, in the knowledge that they are likely attempting to avoid a broad confrontation that could drain them materially, and in human terms, inside Yemen.It is first important to understand the degree to which the Houthis have acted independently of Iran in their decision to attack.The facts indicate that the relationship between the Houthis and Iran is based on an unequal partnership: Tehran provides the group with support, expertise, technology, and political cover within the Iran-led regional “Axis of Resistance”, while the Houthis retain a margin of manoeuvrability governed by their local calculations and their method of leveraging regional escalation to serve their project inside Yemen.Within this framework, the group’s decisions intersect with Iran’s interests without automatically mirroring the behaviour of Lebanon’s Hezbollah or some pro-Iran Iraqi factions, which are much more closely tied to Iranian decision-making.This margin of manoeuvre does not negate the depth …
