The President's Daily Brief
PDB Special Bulletin | The Houthis: Iran’s Deadly Proxy in the Red Sea | PDB Special Report
Sun, 23 Mar 2025
In this Special Edition of The President’s Daily Brief, Mike Baker breaks down the rise of the Houthis—from a rebel movement in Yemen to one of Iran’s most dangerous and disruptive proxy forces. Backed by Tehran, the Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, threatening global trade and U.S. interests. What do they want? How did they become such a major threat? And what does their growing power say about the broader shadow war between Iran and the West? This is your in-depth look at the Houthis—who they are, how they fight, and why the world should be paying attention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who are the Houthis and what is their origin?
Welcome to a special edition of the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. In this special edition of the PDB, I want to focus on a group that's been making headlines and drawing US military action. And that, of course, would be the Houthis of Yemen. You ask yourself, who are they, where'd they come from, and why is the U.S.
currently engaged in military operations against them? Those are all very good questions. Hopefully, we'll be able to provide you with some answers. Now, if you're a regular listener to the PDB, you should know that this isn't a news story, but it's escalated in ways that affect global trade, U.S. security, and U.S. naval operations.
So, let's break it down step by step, starting with who these guys are, their role in Yemen, their ties to Iran, and why they've created such waves in the Red Sea. Oh, see what I did there? Pun intended. The group we all know as the Houthis are officially called Ansar Allah, or Supporters of God. They're a movement that emerged in Yemen in the 1990s.
They're named after Hussein al-Khouti, that's a Zaydi Shia cleric, who founded the group to push back against Yemen's government and what he saw as foreign interference, particularly from the United States and Saudi Arabia. Now, the Zaydis are a Shia Muslim sect unique to Yemen, distinct from the larger Shia branch that's tied to Iran.
Think of it like the difference between Methodists and Anglicans in Christianity. Both are Protestant, but they've got their own histories and practices and flavors of belief. The original founder, Hussein, was killed by Yemeni forces in 2004, and his brother, Abdulmalik al-Khouti, now leads the group.
Their roots go back to Yemen's northern highlands, where Zaydi Imams once ruled for centuries until a Republican government took over in the 20th century. By the 1990s, the Houthis were organizing to revive Zaydi influence and resist a central government that they viewed as corrupt and beholden to outside powers.
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Chapter 2: What are the Houthis' goals and beliefs?
Their stated goals include controlling Yemen, defending their community, and opposing the United States, Israel, and their regional allies. Now, that opposition isn't just talk. It's literally written on their flag. It's on their flag. Their official slogan, called the Sarka, reads, God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, curse be upon the Jews, victory to Islam, end quote.
That's quite the slogan. It's not particularly inclusive. It's a clear declaration, frankly, of their stance and who their enemies are. Now, let's talk about how they went from upstart rebel group to basically running the show in Yemen. The Houthis rose to prominence during the Yemen Civil War, which began back in 2014.
Chapter 3: How did the Houthis rise to power in Yemen?
Yemen's political situation had been unstable since the Arab Spring in 2011, when longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced out. His successor, Mansour Hadi, struggled to hold the country together. and in 2014, the Houthis allied with Saleh, despite their past conflicts, and seized the capital Sana'a, driving Hadi's government south to Aden.
Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia in 2015, and a Saudi-led coalition stepped in to restore him, launching airstrikes and a blockade against the Houthis. Iran backed the Houthis in this fight, so you can see where this is going, turning it into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia's Sunni coalition and Iran's Shia-aligned interests.
The conflict has reportedly killed hundreds of thousands, it's displaced millions, and left Yemen in a humanitarian crisis marked by famine and disease. The Houthis have held Sana'a in much of western Yemen since 2014, even after a fragile ceasefire with Saudi Arabia in 2022. Hadi's government, recognized internationally, remains in Aden but really has very, very little control.
The Houthis are effectively the governing power in the northwest, with a military capable of challenging bigger players. Iran's support is a key factor in the Houthis' strength. They're part of Iran's so-called axis of resistance. That's the network of anti-Western, anti-Israel groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and, of course, Hamas in Gaza, with the oft-stated goal of destroying Israel.
Chapter 4: What role does Iran play in supporting the Houthis?
Since the Yemen war started, Iran has provided the Houthis with weapons, drones, ballistic missiles, anti-ship missiles, along with training and financial aid. Now, this violates a UN arms embargo, though Iran denies direct involvement, claiming it's only political support. Evidence suggests otherwise.
The sophistication of Houthi attacks points to Iranian technology and expertise, with Iranian proxy Hezbollah also offering tactical assistance. Now, while they do depend on the Iranian regime for financial and logistical and weaponry support, the Houthis aren't fully under Iran's thumb. Their fight is rooted in Yemen's local dynamics and Zaidi identity, not just Tehran's regional strategy.
Chapter 5: What is the impact of the Houthi conflict on Yemen?
Iran amplifies their capabilities, of course, but Abdulmalik al-Houthi, well, he sets the agenda. The Axis label reflects shared goals, opposing the U.S., Israel, and Western influence more than a unified command structure. That Iranian backing, however, has turned the Houthis into a threat beyond Yemen's borders.
Coming up after the break, we'll take a look at how the Houthis turned from a local threat to a regional menace. I'll be right back. Welcome back to this special edition of the President's Daily Brief. Now, let's zoom in on why the Houthis are in America's crosshairs. And that answer, of course, would be, well, the Red Sea.
Chapter 6: What is the situation in the Red Sea regarding Houthi actions?
Since late 2023, the Houthis have been wreaking havoc on shipping in that strategic waterway, claiming that their actions are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel. It started in November of 2023 with the seizure of the MV Galaxy Leader, that was a Bahamas registered car carrier, when Houthi forces captured the ship and its multinational crew.
From there, they ramped up attacks, deploying anti-ship missiles, drones, and other weapons against commercial vessels. As of March 2025, they've struck 145 ships, disrupting, of course, a critical trade route. Now, before these attacks, 25,000 merchant ships passed through the Red Sea annually. It's a key link between Europe and Asia via the Suez Canal. That number has now dropped to 10,000.
About 75% of US and UK-affiliated vessels and 60% of EU-linked ships are rerouting now around Africa, and that adds about 10 days and a million dollars in fuel costs per trip. A 2024 Defense Intelligence Agency report notes that this has cut Red Sea container shipping sharply, driving up global shipping rates and adding anywhere from 0.6% to 0.7% to consumer goods inflation in 2024. U.S.
imports like cars and exports like agriculture have been hit as have European trade flows. 95% of Europe-Asia shipping normally uses the Red Sea. The Houthis don't stop at attacking commercial ships, of course. They've attacked U.S. warships 174 times since 2023.
As recently as December of 2024, the USS Stockdale and USS O'Kane fended off drones and missiles while escorting merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis say they're targeting Israel-linked ships, but many of the vessels that they've hit have no such connection. So, why is America hitting the Houthis now?
It's been over a year since a U.S.-flagged commercial ship has been allowed to safely sail the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, or Gulf of Aden without risk, and the White House says that this threatens U.S. economic and national security. Houthi attacks since 2023 have disrupted global trade, damaged US interests, and directly challenged the US military.
On March 15th of this year, President Trump ordered a major operation to degrade Houthi capabilities, targeting their missile sites, drone facilities, and command centers. The reasoning is, well, straightforward. Economically, the Red Sea's a lifeline. These shipping disruptions hit American consumers and exporters hard. Nationally, 174 attacks on U.S. warships can't go unanswered.
They've targeted destroyers like the USS Kearney, the USS Gravely, and USS Spruance with missiles and drones, often intercepted, but still, they're at risk. The U.S. has been responding since 2023. Operation Poseidon Archer with the U.K. began airstrikes in January of 2024, but earlier efforts haven't stopped the Houthis. They've kept attacking.
Trump's latest move aims to restore freedom of navigation. That's a core U.S. principle. No terrorist group, the White House says, will dictate who sails these waters. The strikes also signal to Iran, the Houthis' backer, that there's a cost to this proxy game. Protecting allies, of course, matters too.
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