By Maryam Manzoori | 2025-04-17

Iranian social media users are documenting the high number of casualties in the Houthis' ranks as US strikes target their military operations, in a direct challenge to propaganda circulated by the group and Iranian state media.

Users are sharing extensive evidence of the Houthis' battlefield losses, refuting "victory" messages and other disinformation put out by the group and Iranian state media, security analysts said.

Images of fallen Houthi commanders -- including the group's top missile program official and senior security leaders -- are circulating widely online, exposing the Houthis' false narratives.

"It's no longer possible to cover this up," political analyst Mohammad Al-Basha said in a post on X. "With families mourning online and the names of the dead circulating, the truth is out."

"What kind of victory are they celebrating when they can't even bury their fighters on time?" he added, referring to reports of bodies trapped for weeks under bombed military facilities in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen.

To counter official narratives, Iranian users are compiling and sharing satellite imagery of destroyed security centers, arms depots and command facilities.

"The Houthis are fools destroying themselves by leaning on a broken wall," one user wrote on X, employing a metaphor that highlights the fragility of the Iranian regime.

A number of Houthi leaders recently fled Sanaa by bus, leaving city residents as human shields to face the consequences of their actions, according to regional sources.

Meanwhile, Tehran has ordered some military personnel to withdraw from Yemen, reportedly to avoid direct US confrontation, according to The Telegraph.

According to one Iranian regime official, it reported, the Islamic Republic is re-evaluating its regional strategy, prioritizing internal stability over proxy networks.

Whispers of dissent

As battlefield losses mount and Tehran's support appears to wane, sources inside Yemen note growing dissent among the Houthis.

At a recent Houthi funeral broadcast by Saba News Agency, whispers of abandonment by Tehran could be heard among the mourners, despite officials' attempts to maintain a narrative of unity.

Inside Iran, meanwhile, where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) receives the lion's share of the state budget as the country faces an economic crisis, public sentiment questions the allocation of resources to proxy wars.

"Behind the curtains, the IRGC is still running the show," said retired engineer Farshid, 70, of Rasht, giving his first name only out of concern for his safety.

"This regime has created over 20 terrorist groups in the last four decades, and the Houthis are just one of them," said an Iranian dissident at an April 13 rally, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The people of Iran never chose this. We are not with the regime, and we are certainly not with its failed militias."