The origins of this conflict were described by April Longley and Abdul Ghani al-Iryani, "Fighting Brushfires with Batons: An Analysis of the Political Crisis in South Yemen" (Middle East Institute Policy Brief, February 2008) as follows:

"The war in Sa'ada began in the summer of 2004 as a conflict between government troops and a small Zaidi militia, lead by Hussein al-Huthi. On September 14, 2004 Hussein al-Huthi was killed by government forces and the cause was taken up by his father, Imam Badr Addin al-Huthi. (Imam Badr al-Huthi received the bay'a [recognition] as the Imam of Yemen's Zaidi sect in 1972)."

In a June 7 Washington Post article discussing this conflict, however, Ellen Knickmeyer, described the conflict as one between "Yemen's Hashemite Shiites" on the one hand and the regime of President Saleh, himself a Zaidi Shiite.

The "Hashemites," of course, are best known in the West as the Sunni dynasty that served as the Sharifs of Mecca under Ottoman rule. After the Ottoman Empire fell, a Hashemite ruled the Kingdom of Hejaz until it was overrun by the Saudis in 1924. The British installed Hashemite kings in Iraq and Jordan. The Hashemites were overthrown in Iraq in 1958, but continue to rule Jordan.

The term, "Hashemite" though, can also refer to descendants of the Prophet Mohammed in general (also known as sayyids) — whether Sunni or Shiite.

The al-Huthi family do indeed claim to be Hashemite. In my view, though, it is doubtful that all their thousands of followers are also descendants of the Prophet. They all do, however, appear to be Zaidis. Thus, I believe that it is more accurate to refer to the rebellion as a Zaidi one. But since much of the leadership of the Yemeni government is also Zaidi, the conflict appears to be more about political differences than religious ones.

Many have expressed the fear that Iran may be supporting their fellow Shiites in Yemen. Yet while the Yemeni government understandably wants the American, Saudi, and other governments to believe this and so support it against the Huthis, in fact the Yemeni and Iranian governments are actually getting along quite well.

When Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Abdallah al-Qirbi visited Tehran in early May of this year, the then speaker of the Iranian parliament, Gholamali Haddad-Adel, expressed support "for unity and stability of Yemen." Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki described Yemeni-Iranian relations as "exemplary." A plan for Presidents Saleh and Ahmadinejad to meet was also announced.

Iran's leading English language newspaper, the Tehran Times, did run an article criticizing the Yemeni government for "killing Shi'is." Much of the blame for this, however, was attributed to "fugitive officers of Iraq's [predominantly Sunni] Ba'thist army" now employed by the Yemeni army. The article's call for the Iranian foreign ministry to "adopt a strong and speedy reaction towards those events," however, could be seen as a veiled criticism of the Iranian government for not supporting the Huthis.

On May 20, an article in a Yemeni paper, Al-Ahali, accused the Huthis of exaggerating the role of Sunni Saudi Arabia in Yemen "in order to motivate Iran…to provide monetary funding" — though apparently without success so far.

In short, the conflict between the Yemeni government and the Huthis is primarily a local, indigenous one. Both the Yemeni government and the Huthis, though, are attempting to obtain foreign support through exploiting rival governments' fears of one another. This is something that has occurred many times in recent Yemeni history. As Paul Dresch, an anthropologist specializing on Yemen, put it in his A History of Modern Yemen (2000), "[S]tates, even empires with their grand pretensions, become pawns in games of local interest. This is something of a theme in Yemen's history….Two brothers at odds may seek help, perhaps, from different governments."

After having intervened in Iraq partly out of concern about a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda that did not in fact exist, the U.S. government needs to be skeptical about siding with the Yemeni government out of concern for a Huthi-Iranian connection that appears equally non-existent.

(This article corrects an earlier version published 12:52 AM EDT, June 18.

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Mark N. Katz is a professor of government and politics at George Mason University.