The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Yemen Crisis

In recent decades, Yemen has continuously been an arena for complex conflicts and confrontations among political-religious groups, tribes, and domestic actors. Furthermore, the country's geopolitical and strategic location has prompted extensive intervention by foreign powers, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United States, in its domestic affairs. Meanwhile, the religious affinities between the Ansarullah movement and the Islamic Republic of Iran, coupled with Tehran's political and media support, have reinforced perceptions and assumptions regarding a religious and geopolitical rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia as two pivotal regional actors. Additionally, the prospect of a government aligned with Iran emerging in Yemen—a country historically perceived by Riyadh as its strategic backyard—has intensified Saudi Arabia's security and political anxieties. Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic of Iran defines its engagement in Yemen's developments and revolution, much like its other foreign policy domains, based on the discourse of the Islamic Revolution; a discourse that aims to support popular demands, restore the violated rights of the Yemeni nation, and counter foreign hegemony and intervention. Utilizing an analytical-explanatory method, this study seeks to answer the pivotal question: What are the foreign policy strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran within the Yemeni Axis of Resistance? The findings indicate that by assessing the opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses of its influence in Yemen, Iran employs a combination of political, economic, cultural, and military-security strategies. Through supporting aligned political groups and factions, Iran endeavors to shift the regional balance of power in favor of the Yemeni Front of Resistance.

کلیدواژه ها:

Islamic Republic of Iran ، Saudi Arabia ، Republic of Yemen ، Ansarullah ، Axis of Resistance