By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-03-27

ADEN -- Since Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a September airstrike in Beirut, there have been signs that the Iranian regime has been attempting to position the Houthis as its new premier proxy, analysts said.

For their part, the Houthis appear ready and willing to step into Hizbullah's shoes at the helm of the so-called "axis of resistance" -- militias across the region aligned with the Iranian regime.

The Lebanese party had long served as the Iranian regime's favorite proxy, outranking all the others in terms of direct financial and military support.

But since Nasrallah's death, and in light of the Houthis' March 11 announcement that they would resume their attacks on Red Sea shipping, the Yemeni group's burgeoning alliances with other Iranian proxies have drawn renewed attention.

Speaking on Al-Masirah TV in June, Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi announced "joint operations between our dear brothers the mujahideen in the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" (IRI)" from the Golan Heights.

The IRI is a coalition of Iran-aligned factions.

While IRI-affiliated Harakat al-Nujaba has previously claimed readiness to operate in the Golan Heights -- even announcing a "Golan Liberation Brigade" in 2017 -- there have been no confirmed attacks from this front.

Expansionist ambitions

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had previously established a joint operations room in Baghdad that includes representatives of the Houthis and IRI, political analyst Faisal Ahmed told Al-Fassel.

This cooperation was further evidenced in May when Kataib Hizbullah leader Ahmed Mohsen Faraj al-Hamidawi discussed "high-level coordination" with al-Houthi, he said.

United Nations experts have documented Houthi commanders training with Kataib Hizbullah in Iraq's Jurf al-Sakhr before assuming control of strategic Red Sea coastal zones in Yemen's Hajjah and al-Hodeidah provinces, Ahmed said.

"Iran wants the Houthis to replace Lebanese Hizbullah in leading the 'axis of resistance,' given their control over Sanaa and influence over Red Sea shipping," he said.

Al-Houthi aims to succeed Nasrallah as the agent of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei in the Arab region, according to Yemen's Deputy Justice Minister Faisal al-Majeedi.

Al-Majeedi stressed that the IRGC's goal is not support for the Palestinian people, as it claims, but rather to activate its "ring of fire" -- a network of influence -- across Arab countries.

"This war is not the Yemeni people's cause and has not achieved anything for them," he said.

The Houthis' escalating attacks, bolstered by their coordination with the IRI, appears to serve the Iranian regime's broader strategy of expanding its regional influence.

"Iran wants this to strengthen its regional role," al-Majeedi said, suggesting that Yemen's Red Sea coast and other waterways have become the latest theater in Tehran's quest for Middle Eastern dominance.