The article provides an overview of the Houthi movement in Yemen, detailing their rise from a religious revival movement to becoming a major rebel force that has control over the country's capital, Sanaa. It discusses the ongoing civil war supported by foreign powers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, leading to significant humanitarian crises including death tolls exceeding 150,000 people. Recently, with the collapse of a ceasefire agreement in 2022, the Houthis have resumed attacks on Saudi oil facilities and shipping routes, potentially affecting global oil prices due to their control over strategic chokepoints like the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
How they could send oil prices surging even further
Yemeni rebels threatening to take control of a key chokepoint in the Middle East
Almost three years after the Houthis garnered international media attention for attacking commercial ships off Yemen, the rebels have only increased their violent influence in the Middle East.
Here's a primer on the group that has been a thorn in the side of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and international shipping routes, and whose grievances could push the price of global oil even higher.
Who are the Houthis?
The Houthis are a group on one side of a Yemeni civil war that killed more than 100,000 people before entering a fragile ceasefire in 2022.
uncertain
that → send → 2022
The Houthi movement began in the 1990s, when the Houthi family in far-north Yemen set up a religious revival movement for the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam, which had ruled much of Yemen for about 1,000 years, but whose northern heartland had become impoverished and marginalized since that ended in 1962.
asserted
that → begin → 1962
The civil war in Yemen began in 2014 when the Houthis rose up against the government and took control of the country's capital, Sanaa.
asserted
Houthis → begin → capital
By early 2015, Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf states and with U.S. support, was launching airstrikes against the Houthis, who are backed by Iran.
asserted
who → launch → Iran
The proxy war was devastating for the already poor Arab country, with the direct death toll at around 150,000, not including hundreds of thousands more affected by malnutrition and other ripple effects.
asserted
war → include → malnutrition
The United Nations considers it one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
asserted
it → consider → crises
Houthis seize strategic island, Saudis close pipeline as fighting escalates
Sunni, Shia conflict rooted in dispute over Prophet's successor
Violence slowed considerably after a UN-brokered ceasefire in April 2022, but the Houthis trained their fire on Israel and Red Sea shipping routes after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza.
asserted
attack → seize → Gaza
Those attacks on Red Sea shipping sank two vessels out of more than 100 attacked and killed four sailors by the end of 2024.
asserted
attacks → sink → 2024
The Houthi attacks have subsided during each Gaza ceasefire, and nearly two months of U.S. airstrikes led to a pause in attacks on American ships.
asserted
months → subside → ships
What's been happening lately?
asserted
What → happen → ?
The 2022 truce is collapsing.
asserted
truce → collapse → ?
It could mean civil war for Yemen, and is another warning sign for the prices of commodities worldwide.
uncertain
It → mean → commodities
The ceasefire’s fragile calm held until July, when the Houthis resumed their attacks on Saudi Arabia in response to a Saudi airstrike on Sanaa’s international airport.
asserted
Houthis → hold → airport
The rebels said the attack prevented the landing of a flight carrying Houthi leaders from Iranian leader Ali Khamenei's funeral.
asserted
attack → say → funeral
The Houthis already objected to the Saudis’ backing of Yemeni government forces, which the rebels say have been pounding them this week with dozens of airstrikes.
asserted
rebels → object → airstrikes
The rebels had first attacked several oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding dozens of people.
asserted
rebels → attack → people
The Houthi offensive has reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters Friday.
asserted
sources → reach → Reuters
The Houthis for years have sought to exert control over the narrow corridor between Yemen and Africa.
asserted
Houthis → seek → Yemen
The strait is one of the busiest global shipping lanes, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran and the U.S. continue to struggle over.
asserted
Iran → continue → which
Iran said on Wednesday it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers.
asserted
U.S. → say → tankers
"Disrupting traffic in the Red Sea through Houthi control over the Bab al-Mandab would enable Iran to attempt to drive further concessions from the United States and regional Gulf allies by disrupting energy and shipping flows and imposing economic costs on Gulf countries," the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War said in an update on Iran Thursday.
asserted
Institute → disrupt → Iran
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively closed Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil used to flow.
asserted
fifth → rely → oil
The Houthis view themselves as a coequal partner to Iran rather than as an Iranian proxy, the Institute for the Study of War says.
asserted
Institute → view → War
The Houthis have followed their own path when it suits them, ultimately hoping to control all of Yemen under a strict Shia theocracy.
asserted
it → follow → theocracy
"Both Iran and the Houthis aim to decrease U.S. influence in the region to impose their own vision of a regional order," the ISW researchers write.
asserted
researchers → aim → order
"Iran has long viewed the Houthis as a partner that can help implement Iran’s vision, even though the Houthis sometimes have divergent aims.
asserted
Houthis → view → aims
The cost of shipping oil in the largest tankers hit record highs this week due to the wave of attacks, while global oil prices were on track to end the week above $100 US a barrel for the first time since July.
The Suez Canal shipping route is one of the world's most important routes for global seaborne commodity shipments, particularly crude oil and fuel from the Gulf bound for the Mediterranean, as well as commodities bound for Asia, including Russian oil.
asserted
route → ship → oil
Renewed U.S.-Iran exchanges send oil price back over $100 US for first time in several weeks
Iran-backed Houthis attack Saudi oil facilities, injuring dozens
Twelve to 15 per cent of the world's trade passes through the Red Sea annually.
asserted
cent → send → Sea
Europe-bound ships that don't use the Suez Canal must take the much longer route around Africa.
asserted
that → bind → Africa
What might happen next?
uncertain
What → happen → ?
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sought assistance from U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday to help fight the Houthis, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday, as the Houthis stepped up their threat to the Red Sea.
asserted
Houthis → seek → Sea
Trump held at least two phone conversations with the Saudi leader on Thursday, sources said.
asserted
sources → hold → Thursday
In the end, Washington told Riyadh that it was not willing to take direct military action for now but would help with intelligence sharing and targeting, the two sources said.
asserted
sources → tell → sharing
Iran may hope to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait to put more pressure on the U.S., but the Houthis may decide on a less severe approach to avoid retaliation, the ISW reports.
uncertain
ISW → hope → retaliation
A Houthi military spokesperson said on Telegram that maritime navigation remained safe for all shipping except Saudi vessels subject to a previously announced ban.
asserted
navigation → say → ban
