What is happening in Yemen gives a clear picture of the power struggle the world is currently experiencing. What is happening on Yemeni territory? And what is Turkey's position on it? How can we explain the ultimate objectives of Iran, which is striving to gain influence through the Houthi rebellion in Yemen? What is the meaning of Iran's support for an insurgency that is being waged against a legitimate government?While looking for answers to these questions, we need to resort to the historical background of the matter that goes back centuries. The origin of Houthis, who have risen against the Yemeni government, goes back to Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Hussein's grandson, Zaid, was killed when he revolted against the Umayyads, and the caliph of the Umayyads hung his body from a tree where it stayed for years. Zaid's son, Yahya, was also killed and his head was sent to the caliph in Damascus, and his body was hung on the portcullis of the Gorgan castle. Those who followed Zaid's lead were called Zaidis, also known as the "Fivers" branch of Shia.The Zaidis' struggle for sovereignty in Yemen dates back to the ninth century. They did not submit to Ottoman domination, and their insurgency continued for many years. The Ottoman Empire could never achieve full domination over Yemen due to the Zaidis and withdrew from the country during World War I. Although the ongoing turmoil stopped temporarily when South Yemen was united with North Yemen in 1993, it reappeared in the course of time.What we call the Houthi movement, or Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), hails from such a historical background. The movement is named after Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, who was a member of a Zaidi family and was killed in 2004. Iran supports Shia rebels known as Houthis for several reasons, some of which are historical, others to do with its hostility to Saudi Arabia and the expansionist policies that have precipitated in the region after the U.S.'s withdrawal.Iran has significantly strengthened its presence in Syria and Iraq. While it supports President Bashar Assad in Syria, it boosts its influence in Iraq under the pretext of fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Saudi Arabia's military operation in Yemen should be considered as the first concrete step taken against Iran amid all these developments.As with every other country, with the exception of Iran, Russia and China, Turkey sides with the legitimate Yemeni government in this conflict. Well, what are the outlines of Turkey's position against Houthis? Will it support the operation led by Saudi Arabia?Answering all these questions on Friday, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey is ready to give all kinds of support, including intelligence aid, with military support well within the bounds of possibility. Obviously, Turkey is extremely troubled by Iran's sectarian policies that have become more visible recently. Ankara suggests that sectarian policies should be avoided so that the matter will not devolve into a Shia-Sunni conflict. Iran uses a challenging discourse against Turkey. Indeed, this is a weird situation in that the Tehran regime conveys messages reminding of the significance of relations with Turkey, but it also pursues policies to recover relations with the U.S.In the midst of all this, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's scheduled visit to Tehran in the upcoming days will give important clues about the future of the roadmap of Iran whose self-confidence has been boosted both because of the threat of ISIS and the strategic mistakes of the Obama administration.