Iranians Tweet On: Yemen’s Civil War

As Iran’s politicians ramp up the rhetoric against the Saudi intervention, what do its Twitter users have to say about the crisis?

On March 26, a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states launched “Operation Decisive Storm”, a military campaign against Yemen’s Zaydi Shi’ite Houthi rebels. The coalition aims to restore the “legitimate government” of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

After a UN-brokered agreement, Hadi entered a unity government with the Houthi rebels in September 2014. Its collapse in February triggered the ongoing civil war, and provided the justification for the Saudi intervention.

The Houthis are frequently characterised as “Iranian proxies” in the Western press (though some commentators have their doubts), and have been waging an armed struggle against the central government since 2004.

“Iran is widely believed to have trained Houthi fighters and supplied arms since the insurgency began. But this is flatly denied in Tehran.” The Guardian

But what do Iranian citizens make of this new proxy war? Are they buying into the anti-Saudi hype? Or do they see Iran’s support for the Houthis as a waste of time and money?

We followed the #Yemen debate on Twitter to see what people were talking about the most. Here are the five Persian-language tweets that were reshared most frequently between 1–20 May 2015.


Iranians just aren’t that interested.



Kaveh Goreishi is a Berlin-based journalist for @Roozonline

“Today’s riots in Mahabad, the battles in Yemen, Hashid Shaabi militias and Hezbollah aren’t as attention-grabbing as waxing in Qazvin and General Soleimani.”


What does it mean?

Kaveh Ghoreishi is criticising Iranian social media users for their lack of engagement on the issues of the riots in Iranian Kurdistan, the conflict in Yemen, and the rise of Shi’a militias in Iraq, choosing instead to focus their attention on more frivolous topics.


Iran is selective about its “humanitarianism”.



Arash Sobhani is a US-based musician from the band Kiosk, who is the satirist behind VoA Persian’s OnTen show.

“We saw all these persistent Iranian TV reports about “humanitarian aid” to the oppressed people of Yemen when the earthquake hit Azerbaijan, didn’t we?”


What does it mean?

In this post Arash sarcastically compares the Iranian media’s endless coverage of the Yemen crisis against its limited coverage of the 2012 earthquake in East Azerbaijan, a province of Iran.


Iranian opposition groups are talking up Iran’s involvement in the conflict.



Simay Azadi is an Iranian opposition TV station working in exile. The contents of their website suggest an affiliation with the Mujahedeen-e Khalgh.

“I just uploaded “Events in Yemen — National Organisation: the [Iranian] regime has been sending arms to the Houthis since 1990”






What does it mean?

The contents of the Simay Azadi site suggest an affiliation with the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, a controversial opposition group we’ve encountered in previous reports (see below).

The MEK are fixated on bringing about regime change in Iran, and its activists work tirelessly on social media to share anti-government material.

This post shares a video from the Saudi-owned news network Al-Arabiya, accusing the Iranian government of arming the Houthis for decades.

For more on the MEK’s dubious activities on social media, see:


The media is trying to whip up anger against the Saudis.



DON iman is a Twitter user from Qazvin

“Iranian TV reports on Yemen’s struggle and Saudi Arabia’s attacks in such a way that, little by little, I feel like Khorramshashr has been taken again, and we have to free it!”


What does it mean?

Iranian state TV and its affiliates have been whipping up a great deal of anti-Saudi rhetoric in the past few months, and providing sympathetic coverage of the Houthi rebels. This tweet compares the current propaganda offensive with the wartime calls to liberate Khorramshahr from Iraqi occupation.


People want money to be spent on Iranians, not Yemenis.



This user shared an image of Iranians suffering to highlight their anger that local issues are not being covered by the media.

“2500 tonnes of Iranian humanitarian aid are floating towards Yemen, while this poor 90 year old mother with four disabled sons hasn’t even got a boiler for hot water.”




What does it mean?

Iran has been sending cargo ships towards Yemen (supposedly) loaded with humanitarian supplies. This Tweet criticises the Iranian government for pouring money into Yemen when poverty and poor infrastructure still plague Iranian citizens.