Iran helping Houthis: How Tehran is hitting Saudi Arabia without fighting directly

Iran has provided Yemen’s Houthi rebels with intelligence and tactical guidance to help them target Saudi Arabia and forces allied with Riyadh, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, raising concerns about Tehran’s growing role in the conflict and the threat to regional security.

According to WSJ report, Iranian assistance has extended beyond weapons supplies to intelligence-sharing and operational support. The allegations point to closer coordination between Tehran and the Houthis as the group intensifies its military campaign against Saudi Arabia.

The support the Houthis received from Iran and other Axis actors “undeniably paved the way for the rapid-fire gains they’ve made over the past few months,” Adam Baron, a Yemen expert and fellow at the Washington-based policy institute New America, told the WSJ.

Iran’s assistance reportedly includes intelligence to identify targets, training in operating advanced weapons, tactical guidance and help developing locally manufactured drones and missiles.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have helped the Houthis acquire technical expertise in missile systems and weapons production, according to experts cited by Reuters.

The assistance is also intended to reduce the Houthis’ dependence on direct weapons shipments from Iran.

Andreas Krieg, a senior security studies lecturer at King’s College London, said, “Tehran has not simply supplied the Houthis with weapons. It has helped create an indigenous military-industrial learning process that becomes progressively harder to dismantle, even if direct Iranian supply routes are disrupted.”

Danny Citrinowicz, a former head of the Iran branch of Israeli defence intelligence, told the WSJ that the operational relationship between Tehran and the Houthis was “very, very strong”.

“Iran has a major interest in the Houthis’ success,” Citrinowicz said, adding that the attacks harm Saudi Arabia and push up oil prices. He described the relationship as one based on “strategic cooperation” rather than a conventional client-patron arrangement.

Iran and the Houthis’ relationship

The relationship between Iran and Yemen’s Houthis developed from shared political interests into a closer military partnership over the past two decades. The Houthis emerged in northern Yemen during the 1990s as a movement rooted in the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam and began fighting the Yemeni government in 2004.

Iran’s support expanded as Yemen’s political crisis deepened following the 2011 Arab Spring and the Houthis strengthened their position against the government.

In March 2015, Saudi Arabia led a military coalition to support Yemen’s internationally recognised government and push back against the rebels, turning the conflict into a major regional confrontation involving Riyadh and Tehran.

Iran’s military assistance to the Houthis grew during the war, including reported supplies of missiles, drones, training and technical expertise.