Former senior U.S. diplomat Jennifer Gavito said Iran retains significant influence over Yemen’s Houthis but does not exercise direct command and control over the group, as renewed fighting raises fears of a wider regional conflict.
Gavito, who previously served as acting principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and earlier oversaw Iran and Iraq policy at the State Department, said the relationship is often oversimplified when the Houthis are described simply as an Iranian proxy.
Iran has spent years providing the group with military technology, training and political support, and the Houthis remain one of Tehran’s closest regional partners. But the movement has also developed its own leadership, territorial base and political priorities inside Yemen, making it increasingly capable of acting according to its own calculations rather than waiting for instructions from Tehran.
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| Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree during a public address. Photo: Wasfi Akab / Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY 4.0. |
Gavito warned that this autonomy also limits how much outside pressure on Tehran can be expected to restrain the Houthis. Even if Iran wanted to reduce tensions, it may not be able to simply order the group to halt operations.
The concern in Washington and across the Gulf is that further escalation in Yemen could increasingly merge with the broader confrontation involving Iran and the United States, particularly as the Houthis expand their reach around the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The group’s growing military capability has already complicated Saudi calculations. Riyadh is again carrying out military operations against Houthi positions while also exploring diplomatic channels aimed at preventing a return to the prolonged war that dominated much of the previous decade.
Iran, meanwhile, has offered to help facilitate talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. Whether Tehran can actually restrain the group is likely to become an important test of how much influence it still holds.
The Houthis’ relationship with Iran is therefore better understood as one of deep strategic alignment rather than simple command. Tehran has helped build much of the military capacity the group now possesses, but that same buildup has also made the Houthis a more independent regional actor.
Sources
- Al Jazeera — Will Houthi advances in Yemen give Iran leverage in its war with the US?
- Atlantic Council — Jennifer Gavito
- Reuters — The war’s explosive new front
- Financial Times — Houthis show military reach with deadly missile strikes on Riyadh