US Lawmakers Examine Growing Russia, China Ties To Iran-Backed Houthis

This article was originally published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Read the original article. 

By Alex Raufoglu

WASHINGTON -- Iran remains the Houthis' main foreign backer, but Russia and China are increasingly drawing scrutiny in Washington over their ties to the Yemeni militant group.

At a September 1 hearing of the US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, lawmakers and experts focused on the Houthis' expanding operational, intelligence, and procurement ties with Moscow and Beijing.

The hearing, coming as Congress returned from its summer recess, put renewed focus on Tehran's regional network and the growing role of other powers in aiding the Yemen rebel group.

See Also: Ratcliffe's Moscow Warning: What We Know A Week Later, According To Ex-CIA Officers

The Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, after more than a decade of civil war against forces aligned with the internationally recognized government. Saudi Arabia intervened against the group in 2015, but large-scale fighting eased after a UN-brokered truce in 2022 without a lasting political settlement.

That fragile calm has come under renewed strain in 2026, with the Houthis and Saudi Arabia again trading attacks as the wider US-Iran hostilities spill into Yemen and the Red Sea. The UN has warned of a return to large-scale conflict.

'Expansionist Objectives'

Lawmakers pressed the panel on how Moscow and Beijing's involvement in the Middle East aligns with a broader campaign against Western interests.

Representative Joe Wilson (Republican-South Carolina) framed the Houthi threat as part of a wider challenge from authoritarian states.

"The Houthis have ideologically driven expansionist objectives that extend beyond Yemen," Wilson said, adding that the group is building networks with "terrorist groups and nation-state adversaries of the United States, such as war criminal [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Chinese Communist Party."

Wilson linked those relationships to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Iranian-backed attacks in the Middle East.

"We're in a war, I believe, that we didn't choose, and that is of dictators with the rule of the gun, invading democracies with the rule of law," he said.

Wilson also cited the Yemen militants’ deployment of "very sophisticated underwater sea drones that the Houthis could not have developed themselves" as evidence of direct foreign adversary support.

'A Relationship, And It's Evolving'

Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a Yemen expert and associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, told lawmakers that “there's been some evidence that the Houthis are building ties with Russia and China."

Houthi attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea have escalated in recent weeks, including strikes on vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The escalation comes as the US-Iran conflict has also disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, another critical global trade route.

Al-Dawsari cited reports that Russian operatives were present in Sanaa aiding the Houthis in targeting Red Sea shipping "with data and support, technical support."

She also pointed to assessments from US officials that a satellite firm linked to the Chinese military had provided intelligence aiding Houthi strikes against US warships and commercial vessels.

Al-Dawsari said US Treasury Department documentation showed weapons, dual-use components, and drone and missile parts had been procured for the Houthis from China and Russia.

She also said both powers provided diplomatic shielding at the United Nations by abstaining from Security Council resolutions condemning Houthi maritime attacks.

"So, there is a relationship, and it's evolving," Al-Dawsari said, adding that the partnership aims to expand Russian and Chinese influence in the region "at the expense of the United States."

China As A Procurement Hub

Subcommittee Chairman Mike Lawler (Republican-New York) pressed Al-Dawsari on the international networks facilitating Houthi financial and arms procurement.

While making it clear she was not a terror-financing specialist, Al-Dawsari offered a direct assessment of the weapons pipeline, saying that “most of the weapon smuggling to the Houthis comes through Chinese companies."

She urged Washington to pressure Beijing to crack down on private Chinese firms facilitating weapons transfers.

Al-Dawsari emphasized that while US sanctions have squeezed formal finances, the Houthis still generate roughly $2 billion annually from illicit oil trades and rely on a "vast smuggling network" to regenerate military capabilities.

Russia Ties And Houthi Autonomy

Allison Minor, director of the Atlantic Council's Project for Middle East Integration, noted in her testimony that US and Israeli military strikes had "contributed to new cooperation between the Houthis and Russia."

But she cautioned that military intervention alone would not eliminate the threat.

"The reality is that the Houthis thrive in a wartime environment, especially one characterized by foreign intervention," she told the panel.

Responding to questions from Representative Rob Zinke (Republican-Montana) regarding the group's chain of command, Minor emphasized that while Tehran maintains "major influence," Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi holds ultimate decision-making power.

"The Houthis, I would argue, are even more dangerous than an Iranian proxy," Minor said. "They have their own grand ambitions, and sometimes have proven more reckless in pursuing those ambitions than even we would expect."

She added that the group's military and intelligence apparatus is far more powerful than its political branch.

Debate Over Strategy

The hearing highlighted sharp debate over how Washington should respond to the Houthi threat.

The subcommittee's new ranking member, Representative Jared Moskowitz (Democrat-Florida), asked witnesses what alternatives Washington had if military intervention and economic sanctions failed.

Al-Dawsari advocated greater US and regional support for Yemeni government forces.

"The US should consider arming, training Yemeni forces in collaboration with Saudi Arabia," she said, arguing that helping legitimate forces retake territory would strip the Houthis of revenue, launching points, and maritime smuggling routes.

Representative Brad Schneider (Democrat-Illinois) similarly raised concerns about avoiding an open-ended US military commitment while effectively constraining the group.

See Also: As Iran Threatens Radio Farda And Other Media, US Points To Tehran's Record Of Targeting Journalists

Minor warned against deeper US military involvement.

"The war in Yemen is not the United States' war, and we should not make it ours," she said, calling for US military pressure to be tied to a broader political strategy alongside sustained diplomatic engagement and the reappointment of a US special envoy for Yemen.

Despite the Houthis' expanding ties with Russia and China, Iran's role remained prominent at the hearing.

Al-Dawsari said Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commanders had traveled to Yemen to prepare the Houthis for attacks.

"If the war with the US continues and the pressure out of the Strait of Hormuz becomes less viable for Iran, we can expect the Houthis to escalate in the Red Sea," she warned.

Copyright (c)2025 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

[VS]

Suggested Reading: