Part of a more protracted Houthi-Saudi conflict, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia in 2026 are both a response to Saudi interference in Yemen and a major strategic front in the regional Iran war.
The enmity between the Houthi movement and Saudi Arabia ultimately dates back decades—to social movements that preceded the Houthi movement—as Zaydi Yemenis in the northern part of the country have long cited Saudi influence in Yemeni politics and social life as a major grievance.
Direct conflict began in 2015 when Saudi Arabia entered Yemen’s civil war to back the internationally-backed government in Aden against the Houthi rebels. Mohammed bin Salman, then the Saudi minister of defense and later the crown prince, believed that Saudi intervention would give the Yemeni government a decisive advantage over the Houthi movement, which was aligned with Saudi Arabia’s biggest rival Iran. However, the war came to a virtual pause in 2022 with the Houthi movement having the upper hand and Saudi Arabia seeking to disengage.
In late 2025 the Yemeni Civil War reignited when another separatist group challenged the Yemeni government, prompting Saudi Arabia to reenter the fray. That separatist group was defeated, but it opened the door to renewed confrontations with the Houthi movement. After the Iran war broke out in February 2026, it quickly took regional dimensions as Iran attacked targets in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries and pressured Houthi fighters to blockade the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The defeat of the other Yemeni separatist group, the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia amid the Iran war, and the greater global attention to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait gave the Houthi fighters a window of opportunity to press Saudi Arabia to negotiate a deal favorable to the Houthi movement. In July they began attacking Saudi ships in the Red Sea and in September they took control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to prevent passage of Saudi ships and attacked targets in Saudi Arabia including Riyadh.