Iran and Hezbollah Commanders Assist in Directing Houthi Attacks on Shipping Lanes in Red Sea, Sources Say
Commanders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon's Hezbollah group are on the ground in Yemen helping to direct and oversee Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, four regional and two Iranian sources told Reuters. Iran stepped up its weapons supplies to the group in the wake of the war in Gaza, which erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the sources said. Tehran has provided advanced drones, anti-ship cruise missiles, precision-strike ballistic missiles and medium-range missiles to the Houthis, who started targeting commercial vessels in November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the sources said. IRGC commanders and advisers are also providing know-how, data and intelligence support to determine which of the dozens of vessels travelling through the Red Sea each day are destined for Israel and constitute Houthi targets, according to the sources.
The Houthi-run al-Masirah T.V. reported on Friday that the United States and the United Kingdom launched airstrikes on Yemen's port city of Hodeidah late Friday night. Meanwhile, in the early hours of Saturday, the U.S. Central Command announced that U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea conducted strikes against three Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed at the southern Red Sea. The U.S.-Britain coalition in the Red Sea has carried out several airstrikes on Houthi camps in various northern provinces of Yemen. Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said on Friday that the group's attacks on Israeli, U.S., and British ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea will continue until Israel ends its war and siege on the Gaza Strip.
Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, Vice President of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), says PLC forces "must be supported on the ground" if the Houthis are to be defeated, warning British-American air strikes against the terror group will prove "useless" on their own. "Ground forces must be supported on the ground, and these forces belong to the legitimate government," al-Zoubaidi said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, Switzerland. He added, "These forces are the ones who can achieve a victory on the ground because strong [air] strikes without ground operations are useless."
On Saturday, Iran blamed Israel for a strike on Damascus, saying it "reserves the right to respond" after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed four of its members had died.Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani decried "frequent violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity and an escalation in aggressive and provocative attacks" by Tehran's arch-foe Israel. "The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to respond... at the appropriate time and place" to the latest strike on the Syrian capital, Kanani said.
