Western officials and advisors have revealed that "Iran increasingly sends advanced weapons" to its ally, the Houthi movement in Yemen, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. They noted that the Houthis have used these weapons in attacks on ships in the Red Sea. According to the American newspaper "Wall Street Journal," these weapons enhance the rebels' ability to attack commercial vessels and disrupt international trade, despite airstrikes carried out by the United States and the United Kingdom against the Houthis.
These officials and analysts claim that the Houthis "were previously mocked as scattered militias operating in the arid remote areas of Yemen; however, they have recently become one of Iran's most capable military proxies, thanks to the influx of weapons from Tehran and their expertise in local battles." Among the advanced equipment supplied by Iran to the Houthis are jamming devices for drones and components for long-range missiles and shells, according to the American newspaper.
The missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea, which they say are in retaliation for the Israeli war in Gaza, have prompted American and British counter-attacks for two weeks. With the Houthis under pressure from American and British strikes, Western officials have observed "signs" that they are "adapting militarily," suggesting that "new technologies could enhance the effectiveness of the group's attacks on ships and Israeli territories."
As the U.S. military intensifies its strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen in response to attacks on forces in Iraq and Syria, a complex question has arisen, which journalists have not hesitated to pose to the Pentagon: Do American strikes against the Houthis mean that Washington is at war? On Monday, the United States and the United Kingdom launched new strikes on eight Houthi sites, marking the eighth time the U.S. has targeted the group and its weapons, many of which have been supplied by Iran.
American officials stated that the strikes destroyed missiles, drones, and weapon storage areas. Western officials and advisors explained that on January 11, one day before the first of these counterstrikes, U.S. Navy forces intercepted a ship loaded with the latest Iranian military technology. This equipment included components for the "Ghadir" missile, an Iranian anti-ship missile with a range of over 200 miles that the Houthis had not previously used. The equipment also included nozzles for "Tufan" missile engines, which are ballistic missiles recently revealed by the group, as well as optics designed to improve the accuracy of drone attacks, according to the "Wall Street Journal."
Three days ago, Omani authorities also seized drone jamming devices that Western officials and advisors said were "also supplied by Iran." In addition to weapons, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have sent advisors to Yemen to assist in launching maritime attacks, missile firing, and drone operations, according to Western advisors and security officials. They added that "Tehran relies on smugglers to bring weapons to Yemen from Iran and intermediaries to purchase spare parts through other companies."
Western security advisors and officials stated that "engineers in Yemen and other countries in the region help assemble and operate missiles and drones, while shipping industry workers provide intelligence on the ships to be targeted." The increased military assistance from Iran to the Houthis has led Washington to lodge a complaint with Tehran through Swiss intermediaries, according to the "Wall Street Journal."
Iran is helping the Houthis through some of the Revolutionary Guard's top officers, as security advisors and Western officials explained that "the head of operations for Tehran in Yemen is Abd al-Ridha Shahlai, who previously oversaw attacks on American soldiers in Iraq." Shahlai is wanted by Washington with a $15 million bounty.
Western security advisors and officials told the newspaper that the transfer of ballistic missile technologies and training is managed by Unit 340, which has trained Houthi members in Iran and Lebanon and is led by the former head of the Iranian space missile program, Hamid Fazli. Previous regional and Western security officials have stated that Iranian forces (the Revolutionary Guard) also provide real-time intelligence and weapons, including drones and missiles, to the Houthis in Yemen, which the rebels use to target ships passing through the Red Sea.
Iran insists that it does not engage in Houthi operations, claiming that the group's actions are solely driven by anger over the "aggression against Gaza." Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri indicated, referring to allies in Yemen and throughout the Middle East, that "the resistance has its own tools and acts according to its own decisions and capabilities." However, Iranian analysts explained that while the Houthis act "largely independently, Iran allows the situation to escalate because it serves its agenda of pressuring Israel and the U.S., without fear of direct retaliation."
Saeed Golkar, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga and a non-resident fellow on Iranian political affairs at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, stated that "Iranian military DNA relies on denial of responsibility and forcing others to carry out the dirty work."
To work on degrading the Houthis' arsenal, the U.S. and its allies have bombarded missile-launch sites and arms depots in Yemen while patrolling the waters to block the flow of arms to the Houthis. However, "the Houthis and their Iranian allies are adapting to the pressures; after U.S. warships moved into the Red Sea, the rebels began targeting ships further east in the Gulf of Aden, where the United States is not present," according to shipping executives.
Following repeated warnings to halt their hostilities in the Red Sea, U.S. and British forces executed strikes targeting military infrastructure belonging to the Houthis in Yemen, aiming to push the armed group to de-escalate and to protect shipping and trade flows that have been damaged by their attacks on commercial vessels in this vital maritime corridor.
Benyamin Ben Talablu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, noted that "the Houthis have the most lethal long-range strike capability of any group of Iranian proxies; they are the only ones using anti-ship ballistic missiles." He added that the Houthis "have used at least one missile later found in Iran's arsenal." He stated, "There is evidence suggesting that Yemen is an important battleground for testing Iranian weapons and potential development," adding that "Tehran has both a domestic arsenal and an arsenal in exile."
Western officials and advisors have indicated to the newspaper that the Houthis "are also moving equipment and personnel to avoid strikes, and they seem to receive weapons in floating packages, rather than in shipments from ship to ship that can be more easily seen from the air." At the same time, they noted that "an Iranian spy ship provided information on targets in the Red Sea and left to avoid being targeted by the United States."
