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The Houthi movement attracts its Zaidi-Shia followers in Yemen by promoting regional political-religious issues in its media, including the overarching [[Conspiracy theories in the Arab world|U.S.–Israeli conspiracy theory]] and Arab "collusion".<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|title=An Interview With President Ali Abdullah Saleh|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/world/middleeast/28saleh-interview.html|access-date=15 October 2016|work=New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708203158/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/28/world/middleeast/28saleh-interview.html|archive-date=8 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="alaraby">{{cite news|title=Houthi propaganda: following in Hizbullah's footsteps|url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2015/4/12/houthi-propaganda-following-in-hizballahs-footsteps|access-date=15 October 2016|publisher=alaraby|ref=houthis_slogan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018214159/https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2015/4/12/houthi-propaganda-following-in-hizballahs-footsteps|archive-date=18 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2003, the Houthis' slogan "God is great, death to the US, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam", became the group's trademark.<ref name="alaraby" /> Houthi officials, however, have rejected the literal interpretation of the slogan.<ref name=":3" />
The movement's expressed goals include combating economic underdevelopment and political marginalization in Yemen while seeking greater autonomy for Houthi-majority regions of the country.<ref name="JUNEAU">{{cite journal|last1=Juneau|first1=Thomas|title=Iran's policy towards the Houthis in Yemen: a limited return on a modest investment|journal=International Affairs|date=May 2016|volume=92|issue=3|pages=647–663|doi=10.1111/1468-2346.12599}}</ref> They also claim to support a more democratic non-sectarian republic in Yemen.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Shaker Edroos">{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/12/25/mohammed-al-houthi-we-want-a-united-and-democratic-yemen |title=Mohammed al-Houthi: We want a united and democratic Yemen |author1=Naseh Shaker |author2=Faisal Edroos |work=Al Jazeera|date=25 December 2018 |access-date=12 February 2021 }}</ref
The Houthis took part in the [[2011 Yemeni Revolution]] by participating in street protests and by coordinating with [[Political parties in Yemen|other opposition groups]]. They joined the [[National Dialogue Conference]] in Yemen as part of the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]] (GCC) initiative to broker peace following the unrest. However, the Houthis would later reject the November 2011 GCC deal's provisions stipulating formation of six federal regions in Yemen, claiming that the deal did not fundamentally reform governance and that the proposed federalization "divided Yemen into poor and wealthy regions". Houthis also feared the deal was a blatant attempt to weaken them by dividing areas under their control between separate regions.<ref name="nagi"/><ref name="JUNEAU" /> In late 2014, Houthis repaired their relationship with the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and with his help, they [[Houthi takeover in Yemen|took control of the capital]] and much of the north.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/yemen|title=Yemen|access-date=15 October 2016|publisher=Human Rights Watch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423005013/https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/yemen|archive-date=23 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
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[[File:Ansar Allah Logo.svg|thumb|left|Calligraphic logo of the Houthi movement reading "Oh ye who believe, be supporters of God" ([[Quran 61]]:14)<ref>{{cite web |author1=Middle East Forum |title=Harakat Ansar Allah (Yemen): Emblem |url=https://jihadintel.meforum.org/identifier/551/harakat-ansar-allah-yemen-emblem |website=jihadintel.meforum.org |access-date=15 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ansar Allah |author1=Ansar Allah (Houthis) |url=https://www.ansarollah.com/ |website=ansarollah.com |access-date=15 February 2020 |language=ar}}</ref> Religious motives play an important role in the Houthi movement, though to what extent is disputed. ]]
Although they have framed their struggle in religious terms and put great importance in their Zaydi roots, the Houthis are not an exclusively Zaydi group. In fact, they have outright rejected their portrayal by others as a faction which is purportedly only interested in Zaydi-related issues. They have not advocated for the restoration of the old Zaydi [[Imams of Yemen|imamate]],<ref name="wilson"/> and have allied with and are supported by Sunni Muslims.<ref name="wilson"/><ref name="bbc who"/><ref name="refworld"/><ref name="nagi"/><ref name="pbs"/> According to researcher Ahmed Nagi, several themes of the Houthi ideology "such as Muslim unity, prophetic lineages, and opposition to corruption [...] allowed the Houthis to mobilize not only northern Zaidis, but also inhabitants of predominantly Shafi'i areas."<ref name="nagi"/> In contrast, many Zaydis oppose the Houthis, regarding them as Iranian proxies and the Houthis' form of Zaydi revivalism an attempt to "establish Shiite rule in the north of Yemen".<ref name="Profile: Who are Yemen's Houthis"/> The Houthis have asserted that their actions are to fight against the expansion of [[Salafi movement|Salafism]] in Yemen,<ref name="Profile: Who are Yemen's Houthis" /><ref name="nagi"/> and for the defence of their community from discrimination, whereas their opponents have argued that they desire to institute Zaidi religious law,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm|title=Deadly blast strikes Yemen mosque|date=2 May 2008|access-date=11 November 2009|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201160808/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> destabilising the government and stirring anti-American sentiment.<ref>Sultan, Nabil (10 July 2004).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FG10Ak02.html|title=Asia Times – Asia's most trusted news source for the Middle East|website=atimes.com|access-date=3 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516011845/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FG10Ak02.html|archive-date=16 May 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> Hassan al-Homran, a former spokesperson for Ansar Allah, has said that "Ansar Allah supports the establishment of a civil state in Yemen. We want to build a striving modern democracy. Our goals are to fulfil our people's democratic aspirations in keeping with the Arab Spring movement."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?SubID=7375|title=Hassan al-Homran, spokesperson for Ansar Allah|newspaper=Yemen Post|date=22 November 2013|access-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925151608/http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?SubID=7375|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[Yemen Times]]'', Hussein al-Bukhari, a Houthi insider, said that Houthis' preferable political system is a republic with elections where women can also hold political positions, and that they do not seek to form a cleric-led government after the model of Islamic Republic of Iran, for "we cannot apply this system in Yemen because the followers of the [[Shafi'i|Shafi]] ([[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]) doctrine are bigger in number than the Zaydis".<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=http://www.yementimes.com/en/1826/intreview/4467|title=Al-Bukhari to the Yemen Times: "The Houthis' takeover can not be called an invasion"|newspaper=[[Yemen Times]]|date=21 October 2014|access-date=17 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925182440/http://www.yementimes.com/en/1826/intreview/4467|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2018, the Houthi leadership proposed the establishment of a non-partisan transitional government composed of technocrats.<ref name="Shaker Edroos" />
As a result of their strong support among the northern tribes, the Houthis have also been described as tribalist faction in opposition to republicanism. Regardless, they have managed to rally many people outside of their traditional bases to their cause, and became a major nationalist force.<ref name="Orkaby" /> When armed conflict for the first time erupted back in 2004 between the Yemeni government and Houthis, the President Ali Abdullah Saleh accused the Houthis and other Islamic opposition parties of trying to overthrow the government and the republican system. However, Houthi leaders, for their part, rejected the accusation by saying that they had never rejected the president or the republican system, but were only defending themselves against government attacks on their community.<ref name="arrabyee-2005">{{cite news| first=Nasser| last=Arrabyee| title=Rebellion continues| url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/743/re10.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051024172005/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/743/re10.htm| url-status=dead| archive-date=24 October 2005| work=[[Al-Ahram Weekly]]| date=25 May 2005| access-date=11 April 2007 }}</ref> The Houthis have an ambivalent stance on the possible transformation of Yemen into a federation or the separation into two fully independent countries to solve the country's crisis. Though not opposed to these plans ''per se'', they have declined any plans which would in their eyes marginalize the northern tribes politically.<ref name="wilson"/><ref name="nagi"/>
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