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?