Iran Flew Commanders, Weapons to Houthis in Yemen Ahead of Blockade: Report

A new report backs up claims by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Iran recently flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel into Yemen, where an allied militia has been mounting attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.The flight carried between 10 and 21 IRGC personnel, including senior commanders, military advisers, and missile- and drone-related equipment, according to Reuters.On Wednesday, Mr. Rubio accused Iran of fueling a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebels, whose attacks this week on Saudi-bound vessels is contributing to a new spike in global oil prices.“Iran is in the middle of it. You’re talking about the troublemaker in the region. They decided to send direct flights from Tehran into Yemen, carrying IRGC elements and others into the country,” Mr. Rubio told reporters at an annual gathering of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers at Manila, Philippines.The July 13 flight was originally bound for the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, but diverted to the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah after the Yemeni government attacked the airport. One of the unnamed sources told Reuters the commanders were sent to support Houthi operations and provide training on new missile systems.Yemen’s information minister, Moammar al-Iryani, confirmed the flight, citing intelligence. “Their mission is to strengthen the militias’ military capabilities and prepare them to threaten international maritime security in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait,” Mr. al-Iryani said.The Houthis have been in a civil war against the Yemeni government for more than a decade. Iran has denied providing the Houthis with missile capabilities. A Houthi media official who said he was on the flight claimed all of the passengers were civilians.The flight took place a week before the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The waterway at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. More than 10 percent of the world’s maritime trade passes through the narrow chokepoint.The Houthis launched attacks Thursday on two Saudi oil tankers, causing both to catch fire. The Iran-backed rebels said the blockade is in retaliation for the attack on the Sanna airport.Houthi officials told the Associated Press that the group has spent months drawing up plans to disrupt shipping in the strait. Saudi Arabia has been increasingly using the waterway to transport oil due to Strait of Hormuz disruptions.“I think the Houthis, frankly, got snookered into this thing by the Iranians,” Mr. Rubio said on Thursday. “And they were smart to stay out of it, and they should stay out of it and they should stop.”The International Crisis Group’s senior analyst on Yemen, Ahmed Nagi, says the airport attack essentially ended a ceasefire between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthis. “Unless quickly contained by diplomacy, the dispute could undo four years of calm between the coalition and the Houthis and pave the way for a broader escalation,” Mr. Nagi wrote this week.Mr. Nagi says the Houthi had been attempting to build confidence in their government in the areas it controls, but have shifted their priority to attempting to weaken Yemen’s sovereignty over its airspace, ports, and waters.

Iran Flew Commanders, Weapons to Houthis in Yemen Ahead of Blockade: Report

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