Commanders from Iran and Hezbollah assist in directing Houthi strikes in Yemen

Commanders from Iran and Hezbollah assist in directing Houthi strikes in Yemen

Commanders from Iran and Hezbollah assist in directing Houthi strikes in Yemen

Commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah militants from Lebanon are said to be present in Yemen. Four sources in the area and two in Iran claim that they are actively engaged in coordinating and supervising Houthi assaults on ships in the Red Sea.

Commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah militants from Lebanon are said to be present in Yemen.

According to four regional and two Iranian sources who spoke to Reuters, commanders from Lebanon's Hezbollah organization and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) are assisting in directing and supervising Houthi strikes on Red Sea ships in Yemen.

Following the October 7 assault on Israel by Iranian-backed terrorists Hamas, Iran, which has equipped, trained, and supported the Houthis, has upped the weaponry deliveries to the militia, according to four regional sources. was enraged after.

According to the reports, Tehran has supplied the Houthis, who started attacking commercial ships in November in support of Palestinians in Gaza, with medium-range missiles, precision-strike ballistic missiles, sophisticated drones, and anti-ship cruise missiles. had supplied.

According to these accounts, IRGC commanders and advisors are also providing data, information, and intelligence assistance to identify which of the several dozen ships passing through the Red Sea every day are targets for the Houthis and headed for Israel.

Washington said last month that Iran was heavily engaged in organizing attacks against Red Sea commerce and that the Houthis' ability to target ships depended on its information.

Upon being contacted for comment on this article, the White House cited its prior statements on Iran's assistance to the Houthis.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani has consistently refuted claims made by Tehran that Tehran is complicit in the Houthi strikes in the Red Sea at his weekly press conferences. A request for comment was not answered by the IRGC PR department.

Mohammed Abdussalam, a spokesperson for the Houthis, denied any participation from Iran or Hezbollah in assisting to plan the assaults in the Red Sea. An inquiry for comment was not answered by a Hezbollah representative.

The Houthis, an armed organization that first appeared in Yemen in the 1980s and sought to counter Saudi Arabia's Sunni Islamic hegemony there, claim that by assaulting commercial ships they are either assisting Hamas or are on their way to Israeli ports.

Their strikes have impacted international shipping via the Bab al-Mandab waterway in Yemen that connects Asia and Europe. This prompted bombings by the United States and the United Kingdom against Houthi strongholds inside the nation, creating a new front in the Gaza War.

Along with strikes by organizations connected to Iran on US targets in Iraq and Syria, the Gaza war has also resulted in confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah terrorists on the Lebanese border.

An Iranian source informed Reuters that "the Revolutionary Guards have contributed the Houthis with combat training (on advanced weapons)". "A group of Houthi fighters arrived from Iran last month as well as were trained at an IRGC location in central Iran to become proficient in new technology as well as the use of missiles."

The top IRGC commander in charge of Yemen, according to the source, has established a command center for strikes on the Red Sea in Sanaa, the country's capital, by Iranian commanders who have also visited Yemen.

regional plan

According to the two researchers, Iran's objective of extending and energizing its Shiite militia network in the area to project its influence and jeopardize maritime security inside and beyond is consistent with the Red Sea assaults. demonstrates one's aptitude.

According to him, Tehran wants to demonstrate that a prolonged Gaza conflict might be very expensive for the West and, should it spread, could have catastrophic effects for the whole region.

The head of the Gulf Research Center think tank, Abdulaziz al-Segar, said, "The Houthis are not acting independently." He based his assessment on a thorough examination of the group's capabilities, which include an estimated 20,000 combatants.

"The Houthis are not as sophisticated in terms of manpower, knowledge, and skills. Considering the number of ships that pass through Bab al-Mandab every day, the Houthis lack the tools, resources, expertise, and satellite data necessary to locate and strike particular targets." He stated.

Last month, Adrienne Watson, a spokesman for national security at the White House, said that the Houthis' ability to target the ships was made possible by strategic information that Iran supplied.

Two former military sources from Yemen said that there is no doubt that Hezbollah and the IRGC have members in Yemen. The two men claimed to be in charge of constructing missiles that were being smuggled into Yemen, providing training, and supervising military activities.

Senior researcher at the independent think tank Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies abduLaghani al-Iryani stated: "It is undeniably true that the Iranians are assisting in the identification of targets and destinations. To achieve this, there is no municipal authority." "The Houthis don't have the capacity."

Speaking under anonymity, a prominent regional source following Iran stated: "The location is the Houthis in Yemen, the political decision is in Tehran, and Hezbollah is in charge."

Due to attacks by militants from Yemen's Houthi group on ships in the Red Sea, some ships are choosing to take a longer path across the southern point of Africa instead of using the Suez Canal for maritime commerce.

Due to attacks by militants from Yemen's Houthi group on ships in the Red Sea, some ships are choosing to take a longer path across the southern point of Africa instead of using the Suez Canal for maritime commerce.

weaponry and guidance

The goal of the organization, according to Houthi spokesperson Abdussalam, is to attack Israeli ships that are sailing toward Israel without resulting in any serious casualties or material damage. He asserted that they would not be forced to go because of the American and British assaults on Yemen.

We acknowledge our relationship with Iran and the benefits it has provided us with in terms of military building and training, but Yemen's choice to withhold information is an autonomous one that is unrelated to any other party. He stated.

However, a security official close to Iran stated: "The Houthis are armed with drones, missiles, and all the equipment they need to combat Israel; Iran provides them with the direction and information they need about trade lanes and ships. has vanished."

In response to a question about the nature of the help Tehran offered, he said it was comparable to Iran's advising role in Syria and ranged from training to operation monitoring when necessary.

The security officer said, "A group of Iranian Guard members are at the moment in Sanaa to help with the operation."

Along with thousands of Hezbollah militants, Iran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guards to Syria to assist in organizing and preparing Shiite militia fighters from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan in order to keep President Bashar al-Assad from being overthrown during the Sunni-led conflict. 2011.

The Houthis, a branch of Shia Islam that is a component of Lebanon and Tehran's anti-West, Israel movement, have been accused by Washington and the Gulf Arab governments on many occasions of receiving arms, training, and financial support from Iran as part of the "Axis of Resistance". Hezbollah and organizations in Iraq and Syria.

Iran has denied any direct involvement in the Red Sea strikes, but the country's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has congratulated the Houthis—a Shiite sect known as Zaidi—saying he hopes their attacks would lead "to victory." will carry on.

prepare and provide

The head of an alliance of pro-Iranian organizations refuted the existence of any Hezbollah or IRGC leaders in Yemen.

He said that during the civil war in Yemen, a group of military specialists from Iran and Hezbollah had traveled there to train, equip, and strengthen the Houthis' military production capabilities.

He stated that the Houthis' military might should not be undervalued. "They came and helped the Houthis and left, just like they did with Hezbollah and Hamas," he said.

The source said that the Houthis already had systems in place to attack ships, including highly precise Iranian technology, and that they were familiar with the water and the surrounding terrain.

The Houthis solidified their position in Yemen's north during the turbulent years that followed the Arab Spring movement in 2011. In 2014, they took control of the nation's capital, Sanaa, which prompted the coalition headed by Saudi Arabia to launch a military intervention some months later. Drop.

After years of anti-Israel rhetoric, analysts claimed Iran had no option but to show support for the Palestinian organization when Hamas attacked Israel. However, Iran was worried that utilizing Hezbollah would trigger huge Israeli reprisal.

A major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, according to Iryani of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, would be disastrous for Lebanon and imperil the survival of the organization that has grown to be the most significant part of the "axis of resistance" against Iran.

On the other hand, he said, the Houthis were in a rare strategic position to have a significant influence by easily upsetting international naval traffic.