While the Huthis are using an arsenal of Iranian weapons to wreak havoc in the Red Sea and are considered part of Tehran's "axis of resistance," the Yemen-based rebel group does not necessarily follow Iran's commands.
Experts say the two have separated themselves enough to allow the Huthis -- who control northern Yemen -- to act independently against Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the West, Tehran's main enemies. The distance also keeps Iran from being drawn into a broader Middle East conflict.
Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, explained that Iran's support for the Huthis does not make the nonstate militant group an Iranian proxy.
"There is absolutely no doubt that, especially since the outbreak of the war in Yemen, since the Saudi invasion of Yemen in 2015, that Iran has been actively supporting the Huthis in their fight against Saudi Arabia," he said. "And it continues to support them now, in their expanding campaign against Israel. But it isn't like Iran created the Huthis or that the Huthis were a subsidiary of the Quds Force," the foreign arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Jeremy Binnie, a Middle East defense analyst with the global intelligence company Janes, said the question is how much influence Tehran has over what the Huthis do.
Huthi supporters rally in Sanaa on January 12.
That question has increasingly been asked since the Huthis began targeting Israel with missile strikes in response to Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip, and most recently following the Huthis' repeated attacks against maritime vessels in the Red Sea, a major global supply route.
Many consider the Huthis to be "fairly independent and very belligerent," Binnie said, and "will actually probably go beyond what the Iranians want them to do." Another view is that considering the likely need for Iranian personnel to operate the more advanced weaponry Tehran provides to the Huthis, that Iran "would have a big say over when and how those weapons are used."
The Huthis' arsenal is extensive, including sea and air drones, long-range missiles, and recently unveiled anti-ship missiles.
The Huthis have used such weapons against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, leading the UN Security Council to warn against such attacks prior to the United States and Britain striking dozens of Huthi strategic sites in Yemen on January 12.
The Huthis have also targeted Israel directly with drones and long-range missiles amid the latter's war against Hamas -- considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union -- following that Iranian-backed group's deadly incursion into Israel on October 7.
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Who Are The Huthi Rebels And What Are Their Links To Iran?
While the Huthis have claimed they manufacture their own weapons and Tehran has denied supplying arms to the Huthis, Iranian components for sophisticated weapons have been seized en route to Yemen.
Binnie said that while the Huthis do produce some less-sophisticated weapons such as rockets, there is little doubt that their more advanced arms are of Iranian origin.
"They are still largely reliant, especially for the more sophisticated weapons, on at least key components coming from Iran," he said, adding that Iranian weapons are paraded with new names and, in some cases, Iranian weapons have been seen for the first time in Yemen.
While the Huthis are not directly under Tehran's thumb, the rebel group does play an important role in the so-called axis of resistance -- a loose-knit network of Iranian-backed proxies and militant groups who aid it in opposing the West, Arab foes, and primarily Israel.
"From the Iranian point of view, having an ally in Yemen is great, because you can give them your missiles and drones and suddenly the Saudis are facing a threat from the south. And [the Saudis have] got to move a lot of their air defenses to the south to cover that, which means there are less air defenses pointing toward Iran," Binnie said.
"You also have an ally that has the capability -- as we are now seeing -- to threaten one of the key maritime checkpoints in the world. So if Iran can threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz, the Huthis are showing what they can do," he added. "Likewise, in the southern Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab [Strait], so this increases [Iran's] ability to put pressure on the international economy, the global economy, if they need to."
An aircraft takes off to join the U.S.-led coalition to conduct air strikes against military targets in Yemen from an undisclosed location on January 12.
The Huthis, who have recently cast themselves as champions of the Palestinian cause, also fit well into the anti-Israel, anti-American ideology shared by members of the axis of resistance.
One risk is that Iran's support for the Huthis could draw Tehran directly into a broader Middle East conflict should it expand beyond Israel's war against Hamas.
At the moment, according to observers, that seems unlikely.
Azizi said it is getting "more and more difficult for Iran to keep its distance" from the Huthis, noting that statements by the United States -- including in the UN Security Council's January 10 condemnation of Huthi attacks in the Red Sea -- and Britain about the rebel group make sure to describe them as Iranian-backed.
Nevertheless, Azizi said, "I don't see any urge in any of the international actors involved in the war in Gaza to expand the scope in the sense that they would bring Iran into the conflict."
Binnie also downplayed the prospect of Iran being held directly responsible for attacks carried out by the Huthis and other members of the axis of resistance.
"We know the Iranians are supplying a lot of weapons to these groups, and they certainly have influence, if not a high degree of control over them," Binnie said. "So you could certainly make that case, but it is not being publicly made at the moment."
It has been more than three months since the outbreak of war in Gaza that sparked the Huthi attacks, Binnie said, and the Iranians have "successfully maintained their distance, so [the actions by the members of the axis of resistance are] not too much of a problem."