"From an Iranian proxy to a tool of the Kremlin," an American center says the Houthis' relationship with Russia is no longer just a matter of interest, but rather a carefully considered military alliance.

The Atlantic Council , a US think tank, said that the US Treasury's designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization focuses on their ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Russia, clearly demonstrating that the Houthis are not the architects of their own rise, but rather mere tools in a broader geopolitical struggle.

In a report translated by Yemen Youth Net, the center harshly criticized the international community, saying, "Even as Moscow and Tehran's influence expanded, Western decision-makers remained clinging to the notion that the Houthis were just another regional rebellion, not an armed proxy in an emerging anti-Western axis."

He added, "Throughout the Yemeni conflict, global discourse in the international media has focused heavily on the Saudi military intervention in Yemen and the humanitarian crisis it has created, stifling serious discussion about long-term strategy and security."

He also criticized what he described as the community's preference for celebrating photo-op diplomacy over demanding verifiable commitments. The Stockholm talks did not produce peace, but rather a tactical pause that was eagerly misunderstood by Western mediators, eager to see any sign of progress in Yemen.

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The US designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization took effect on March 4. This move comes after years of fruitless diplomatic efforts, during which international institutions treated the Houthis as legitimate partners at the negotiating table, which only served to give them the upper hand at every step.

The Treasury Department's FTO designation's focus on ties to the IRGC and Russia clearly demonstrates that the Houthis are not the architects of their own rise, but rather mere pawns in a broader geopolitical struggle.

The internationally recognized Yemeni government welcomed the designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, after years of advocacy and campaigning against the former Biden administration's reversal of the Houthi designation in 2021.

For many Yemenis, both inside the country and in the diaspora, the Houthi designation as a foreign terrorist organization represents a long-overdue recognition of a reality that the West has consistently ignored: that the Houthis are not interested in peace.

Yemeni communities have suffered directly from Houthi brutality, from forced child recruitment and arbitrary arrests to the systematic kidnapping of aid workers and torture of political opponents.

But they also realize that the Houthis' complex relations with Tehran and Russia, along with their threat to the Red Sea, are embroiling Yemen in conflicts that could deepen their misery and have serious repercussions for Yemen's future.

Throughout the Yemeni conflict, global discourse in the international media has focused largely on the Saudi military intervention in Yemen and the humanitarian crisis it has created, stifling serious discussion about long-term strategy and security.

Many analysts have underestimated the Houthis' growing ties with Iran and Russia, overestimating their independence and dangerously underestimating the growing influence of Tehran and Moscow. While Western policymakers have looked elsewhere, the Houthis have quietly evolved into a strategic force capable of carrying out operations with dire global consequences.

From the negotiating table to the Kremlin's origins

Military trade between the Houthis and Russia includes both imports and exports, according to the US Treasury Department. US intelligence confirms that Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU , is now operating in Houthi-controlled Sana'a under the guise of humanitarian aid, providing technical assistance that bolsters Houthi military operations. Furthermore, there are reports linking notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to arms smuggling operations on behalf of the Houthis.

This relationship has evolved from opportunistic exchanges of interests to direct military cooperation, with reports that the Kremlin is providing assistance with data tracking systems that enhance the Houthis' maritime targeting capabilities in the Red Sea.

While the Houthis have long exploited Yemen's war economy, profiting from everything from fuel smuggling to extortion, recent intelligence reveals a more dangerous source of income.

According to the US Treasury Department, Houthi agent "Major General" Abdul Wali Abdo Hassan al-Jaberi ran a human trafficking network, recruiting Yemeni civilians to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

This reveals a new dimension in the relationship between the Houthis and Russia...one that goes beyond weapons to include human capital. The supply of paid mercenaries by a Zaidi Shia jihadist group to a ostensibly secular dictatorship ostensibly embodies the moral bankruptcy of both parties. By mid-2024, the Houthi rebels had incarcerated thousands of Yemenis in Russian military training camps under flimsy pretexts.

Many recruits believed they were signing up for construction jobs with $2,000 a month salaries, a cruel deception that transformed the Houthis from mere terrorists into something far more vile: traffickers of human misery, directly serving Russian military interests.

But what is truly alarming is that the same Houthi representatives implicated in this human trafficking to Russia—Mohammed Abdul Salam, Ali Mohammed Mohsen Saleh Al-Hadi, and Mahdi Mohammed Hussein Al-Mashat—had previously posed as dealmakers during the 2018 Stockholm Agreement negotiations, which saw significant victories for the rebel faction.

This pattern not only reveals the duplicity of the Houthis, but also the weakness of the international community: its preference for celebrating photo-op diplomacy over demanding verifiable commitments. The Stockholm talks did not produce peace, but rather a tactical pause that was eagerly misinterpreted by Western mediators, eager to see any sign of progress in Yemen.

Strategic Maritime Selectivity

The US Treasury Department confirmed that the Houthis are deliberately targeting Western shipping while ensuring the safe passage of Russian and Chinese vessels, a deal they have publicly acknowledged. This pattern of selective targeting is not accidental but strategic.

As General Michael Kurilla, commander of US Central Command, testified before Congress last year, Iran, Russia, and China are actively reshaping the regional order at the expense of the West, using asymmetric actors like the Houthis to exert pressure.

Their coordination with Moscow and Beijing to protect Russian and Chinese vessels while attacking US and allied shipping underscores this geopolitical alignment. According to OFAC, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi communicated directly with Russian and Chinese officials to secure this agreement.

This maritime strategy is part of a broader realignment of Russian-Iranian relations, which accelerated after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Moscow abandoned neutrality, aligned itself with Iran, and strengthened its military and intelligence ties with its proxies, aided by drones from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Since then, radar tracking technology used by the Kremlin has enhanced the Houthis' ability to accurately identify and target vessels in the Red Sea, deepening their involvement in an axis designed to weaken Western influence over global trade.

Russia has also provided significant support to the Houthis in the diplomatic arena: in 2015, Moscow abstained from voting on UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis.

By refusing to support him, Russia kept the Houthis politically viable as a strategic bargaining chip, ensuring they remained a useful counterweight in regional power dynamics while maintaining its influence in the Yemeni conflict.

Moreover, when a UN panel of experts, including American analyst Gregory Johnson, later revealed clear violations of this ban, Russia took an offensive stance, distorting the findings, obstructing implementation, and vetoing Johnson's reappointment.

Yet, even as Moscow and Tehran's influence expanded, Western decision-makers remained wedded to the idea that the Houthis were just another regional insurgency, not an armed proxy in an emerging anti-Western axis.

Even in the months leading up to October 7, 2023, there was still cautious optimism about the Houthis' participation in the negotiations, with UN envoy Hans Grundberg expressing optimism that things were moving "in the right direction."

While this illusion has now collapsed, the international community is still searching for a solution, while the United Nations remains unable to protect its employees kidnapped by the Houthis, let alone resolve the decade-long crisis in Yemen.

For these reasons, Washington's renewal of its designation of Yemen as a terrorist organization sends an important message of recognition of the geopolitical problem in the Red Sea, but it comes a little late.

If the United States continues its pursuit of engagement on outdated terms, it will once again be defeated by a group that does not have Yemen's interests at heart, but rather those of Tehran and Moscow. The question now is: Will Washington finally recognize reality, or will it repeat the mistakes that allowed the Houthis to emerge in the first place?