Honed at Home in Yemen, Houthi Propaganda Is Going Global

Soon after Yemen’s Houthi militia hijacked a commercial ship in the Red Sea, taking it and its 25-member crew hostage, the armed group used the vessel to record a music video.

In the slick production, called “Axis of Jihad,” a drone camera pans over the hulking ship. Then a famous Houthi poet appears on the deck — accompanied by what appears to be a cardboard cutout of Qassim Suleimani, the Iranian commander assassinated in 2020 — and begins to sing.

“Death to America and hostile Zion,” the poet, Issa al-Laith, calls out, backed by a relentless beat. “By God, we shall not be defeated!”

The Houthis — an Iran-backed militia that controls northwestern Yemen — have long been skilled producers of propaganda, crafting poetry, television shows and catchy music videos to spread their messages. But they have never had as large an audience as they do now, as the war in the Gaza Strip propels them to the center of a global battle of accounts and attracts new admirers around the world.

Over the past few months, the Houthis have vaulted to worldwide prominence by shooting missiles toward Israel and attacking ships in the Red Sea, causing limited damage but disrupting the flow of global trade. The United States and its allies have targeted the group with repeated airstrikes this month, further raising its profile, but the assaults on shipping have continued.

The Houthis have declared that a direct battle with the United States is their goal, and at recent demonstrations, their supporters have chanted a line from a famous Houthi poem: “We don’t care, we don’t care: Make it a great World War.”