Houthi Propaganda Laid the Groundwork for Military Escalation

Houthis rebels are threatening Yemenis with a return to civil war, the Red Sea with resumed instability, and Saudi Arabia with attacks on its energy infrastructure and shipping. The Iran-backed terror group views escalation as a means to achieve expanded influence in Yemen and Iran’s goal of increasing economic pressure on the United States. However, the Houthi propaganda system is firing on all cylinders to spin their involvement in the current conflicts — both domestic and regional — as an effort to free Yemenis from so-called Saudi oppression.

The West could do more not only to counter these narratives, but to block the organizations spreading them. In particular, al-Masirah, the Houthis’ primary television channel, which amplifies its propaganda in English and Arabic, has a presence in the West that supports its operations. As an arm of a U.S.-designated terror group, American partners cannot permit the organization to operate from their territory.

The Houthi propaganda machine is not new, and neither is its animosity to Riyadh. Saudi Arabia led the international coalition to counter the Houthis during the Yemeni civil war sparked by the Houthi seizure of Sanaa, the country’s capital, in September 2014. The Houthis blame Saudi Arabia for a claimed $57 billion in economic losses that the country suffered during the civil war. Al-Masirah shared narratives of “US-Saudi aggression” engaged in “economic warfare” against the country. The plight of Yemenis is undeniable—nearly half of the population faces severe food insecurity according to the United Nations. However, the Houthis exploit the suffering for their propaganda while ignoring their role in the civil war, ensuing economic collapse, and interference with international aid.

In early July, the Houthis, along with their partners in Iran, developed a scheme to escalate their narrative of Saudi oppression. The Islamic Republic sent a plane to pick up the Houthi delegation to slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral on July 3. Riyadh struck Sanaa International Airport to prevent the return flight on July 13 which forced the plane to land at a different Houthi-controlled airport. Al-Masirah described Riyadh’s strike as part of a “policy of collective punishment,” despite Riyadh conducting the strike at the request of Yemen’s internationally recognized government who claimed the operation.