{"id":384129,"date":"2026-10-02T13:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/the-houthis-irans-secret-weapon-in-the-middle-east\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T13:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:00:04","slug":"the-houthis-irans-secret-weapon-in-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/the-houthis-irans-secret-weapon-in-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"The Houthis &#8211; Iran\u2019s secret weapon in the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.ytimg.com\/vi\/50_knQnToNI\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"The Houthis - Iran\u2019s secret weapon in the Middle East\"><br \/> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/50_knQnToNI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>The Houthis have made rapid advances in Yemen, sparking a dormant civil war back to life in the Middle East, threatening their neighbour Saudi Arabia, increasing pressure on international oil supply, in a region already reeling from the US and Israel\u2019s war with Iran. But who are they?<\/p>\n<p>[Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https:\/\/channel4news.substack.com\/subscribe]<\/p>\n<p>Once a small Shiite militia from Yemen&#8217;s northern hills, the Houthis have grown into a fearsome fighting force, utilising modern military technology and growing their numbers allowing them to take swathes of territory along the Red Sea coast, including the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. That has implications for the whole world, making the militia a global threat &#8211; the importance of this crucial international shipping lane to the global economy has only grown amid the chaos seen in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>The Houthis have shown remarkable speed and force to take territory from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, widely recognised as the legitimate ruler of Yemen by the international community. For Iran, which has long-supplied the Houthis with financial and military backing, these Houthi successes are aiding their cause against the US and Israel. <\/p>\n<p>But who exactly are this fundamentalist Shiite Islamist group? Why are they so opposed to Saudi Arabia, the US and Israel? How did they rise to power to control the lives of most of Yemen\u2019s population, while Iran&#8217;s proxy fighting forces, like Hamas and Hezbollah, have been severely weakened in recent years? And what is life actually like for the roughly 30  million Yemenis living under the control of a group the US has designated a terrorist organisation?<\/p>\n<p>We look at all of that in this FourSight and what the latest Houthi successes mean for the Middle East and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n<p>With thanks to Dr Elisabeth Kendall, Afrah Nasser, and Professor Vali Nasr.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>CHAPTERS:<br \/>\n00:00 &#8211; Intro<br \/>\n01:08 &#8211; A brief history<br \/>\n02:20 &#8211; Houthi beginnings<br \/>\n04:04 &#8211; Insurgency and civil war<br \/>\n06:03 &#8211; Yemen since 2023<br \/>\n07:14 &#8211; Houthi strength<br \/>\n11:36 &#8211; Life under Houthi control<br \/>\n15:07 &#8211; Expert interview: Vali Nasr<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>Presenter: Kiran Moodley<br \/>\nProducer: Harriet Tatham<br \/>\nEditor: Matthew Lucas<br \/>\nMotion Graphics: Ian Watkins<br \/>\nSeries Producer: Kieron Bryan<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>Picture credits: Yahya Arhab\/EPA\/Shutterstock &amp; Mohammed al-wafi\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>Get more news at our site &#8211; https:\/\/www.channel4.com\/news\/ <\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https:\/\/channel4news.substack.com\/subscribe<\/p>\n<p>Follow us:<br \/>\nTikTok &#8211; https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@c4news<br \/>\nInstagram &#8211; https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/channel4news\/<br \/>\nTwitter &#8211; https:\/\/twitter.com\/Channel4News<br \/>\nFacebook &#8211; https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Channel4News\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Houthis have made rapid advances in Yemen, sparking a dormant civil war back to life in the Middle East, threatening their neighbour Saudi Arabia, increasing pressure on international oil supply, in a region already reeling from the US and Israel\u2019s war with Iran. But who are they? [Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https:\/\/channel4news.substack.com\/subscribe] Once [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":384130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128813],"tags":[],"actors":[],"class_list":["post-384129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-channel-4-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Houthis - Iran\u2019s secret weapon in the Middle East | News ISC Videos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watch The Houthis - Iran\u2019s secret weapon in the Middle East for free, here on News ISC. 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