U.S. Congress meeting on growing ties between China and Russia and Iran-backed Houthis

A meeting of the U.S. Congress on the growing links between China and Russia with Iran-backed Houthis

🔸Iran continues to be considered the Houthis’ main external backer, but because of its ties with this Yemeni militia group, Russia and China have increasingly come under scrutiny in Washington.

🔸At a hearing held on September 10 by the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, lawmakers and experts focused on the expansion of the Houthis’ operational, intelligence, and logistical ties with Moscow and Beijing.

🔸Held at the same time as members of Congress returned from their summer recess, the session once again drew attention to Tehran’s regional network and to the growing role of other powers in supporting Yemen’s rebel group.

🔸After more than a decade of civil war with forces aligned with the internationally recognized government, the Houthis have control over a large part of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sana’a. In 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened militarily against the group, but after a UN-backed ceasefire in 2022, widespread fighting subsided; however, no lasting political solution has yet been achieved.

🔸This fragile calm has again come under pressure in 2026, as the Houthis and Saudi Arabia have resumed fighting, and broader tensions between the United States and Iran have also spread to Yemen and the Red Sea.

🔸Read the full report on Radio Farda’s website.