One of the most important US Senate votes in decades took place recently, and few people know it happened. On March 20, Senators voted on whether to stop US support for Saudi Arabia’s vicious war in Yemen by invoking the War Powers Act.
The second, larger problem with discursively equating the Zaydi faith with Twelver Shi’ism is that it paints a picture of “natural” or “primordial” ties between the Houthis and Iran. President Hadi has emulated his predecessor Salih in asserting these ties, as have his Saudi and Emirati allies, who have regarded Iran as an implacable foe since the 1979 revolution that toppled the Shah and installed the Islamic Republic.
