Organization home: Based in Sa'ada, Yemen Ideology - Jihad, Zaidi, Shiite. It was established in the 1990s as a religious youth movement, and in 2004 changed its name to the Houthi Rebel Movement. Founder of the organization - Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi Place of activity - Yemen Summary The Houthis, known by their official name, Ansar Allah (Partisans of God) - are a Yemeni Shiite terrorist movement backed militarily and politically by Iran. In 2015, it succeeded in overthrowing the government in Sanaa, and in 2016 the organization announced the formation of a government. The Houthi movement began its journey by preserving tribalism in northern Yemen, and in protest of U.S. intervention in the Middle East. The Houthis received training and military equipment from the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). According to the Saudi ambassador to the United States: "The first thing the Houthis who went in to occupy Sana'a did was to release the Mash'am and Hezbollah operatives from prison." The Iranian ship Jihan was the first ship seized with weapons intended for the Houthis on their way to Yemen. The Houthi movement is known for its hatred of the West, which includes the movement's motto: "God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse to the Jews, victory to Islam." Source: Nziv.net