The current Houthi uprising is but the latest phase in a prolonged internecine strife. Having long suffered discrimination and marginalization by the central government, this Zaidi Shiite group, about forty percent of Yemen's population, capitalized on the massive upheavals sweeping across the region since 2011 to help topple President Ali Abdullah Saleh. In subsequent years the Houthis steadily extended their control throughout the country and by January 2015, with Tehran's active aid and support, had unseated Saleh's successor, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, dissolved parliament, and established a revolutionary committee in its place.
 A cartoon in the English-language Saudi daily Arab News explains why an Arab coalition is intervening in Yemen. |
As the Houthis closed on the port town of Aden (where Hadi proclaimed a provisional government) in an attempt to seize control of the strategic navigation route via the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the Saudis rallied Yemeni Sunni tribes (albeit with little success); formed an international Sunni coalition that launched airstrikes against the Houthis; prevented Iranian planes from delivering weapons and military equipment to the rebels; and massed ground forces along their border with Yemen.
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