Where did Ansarallah or “the Houthis” come from? What is their relationship with Iran? How have they come to dominate so much of Yemen, and what is the nature of their regime? And how do the Houthis fit into the Iranian militia network as a threat to peace and security in the Middle East? These are some of the questions EER takes up in the latest episode of our podcast with Michael Knights, the Jill and Jay Bernstein Fellow at The Washington Institute, who specializes in the military and security affairs of Iraq, Iran, and the Gulf states.

Knights documents that the Houthis are an outgrowth of the Islamic Revolution in Iran exported to Yemen soon afterward, and it is with the help of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its Lebanese branch, Hizballah, that the Houthis built up the military capacity for their jihad in Yemen. The coordination between the Houthis and Iran’s “Resistance Axis” is close, with Tehran sharing strategic guidance and weapons like drones with the Houthis. There does not appear to be any immediate-run chance of peace in Yemen, with the Houthis so entrenched.