How War in Yemen Transformed the Iran-Houthi Partnership

The war in Yemen has transformed the Iran-Houthi partnership. Iran has built significant influence in Yemen since 2015, but the Houthis are not a simple arm of its foreign policy: Iran has bandwagoned on Houthi successes as much as it has caused them. For Iran, supporting the Houthis is an appealing proposition: at a low cost, it has contributed to getting Saudi Arabia bogged down in a costly war. This article analyses the causes and consequences of the quantitative and qualitative shifts in Iran’s support for the Houthis. After laying out the strategic rationale for the expansion of the partnership, it explains how this has represented an important victory for Iran and how these developments mirror other trends in the evolution of the constellation of revisionist actors Iran supports.