Part of me thinks it is probably activists within ICANN that think the Houthis are liberators. I also think that it's not really ICANN's/IANA's responsibility to determine which government gets control of a domain during a civil war/uprising. It becomes too difficult for them to be the arbiter of who is the government of a particular country. How long must the Houthis control the country before they get to control the domain? Is there a percentage of the country they should control before being given the keys? If a "good" leader from another faction took over the country should the Houthis retain control until that new leader proves their goodness somehow?
Part of me thinks it is probably activists within ICANN that think the Houthis are liberators. I also think that it's not really ICANN's/IANA's responsibility to determine which government gets control of a domain during a civil war/uprising. It becomes too difficult for them to be the arbiter of who is the government of a particular country. How long must the Houthis control the country before they get to control the domain? Is there a percentage of the country they should control before being given the keys? If a "good" leader from another faction took over the country should the Houthis retain control until that new leader proves their goodness somehow?