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Military cadets salute during a military funeral procession for Houthi fighters killed in recent US-led attacks on Houthi targets, in Sanaa, Yemen, January 17, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
GAZA – Commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group are in Yemen to help direct and monitor Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping. Four regional and two Iranian sources revealed this to Reuters.
Iran – which arms, trains and finances the Houthi group – has increased its supplies of weapons to militias following the war in Gaza, which erupted after Iran-backed Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.
Tehran has supplied advanced drones, anti-ship cruise missiles, precision ballistic missiles and medium-range missiles to the Houthis, who began targeting commercial ships in November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
“IRGC commanders and advisers also provided knowledge, data and intelligence support to determine which of the dozens of ships crossing the Red Sea every day were destined for Israel and were Houthi targets,” four sources told Reuters.
Washington said last month that Iran was heavily involved in planning operations against shipping in the Red Sea and that its intelligence was crucial in allowing the Houthis to target the ships.
In response to a request for comment on this story, the White House referenced previous public comments about how Iran supports the Houthis.
In his weekly press conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani repeatedly denied that Tehran was involved in the Red Sea attacks carried out by the Houthi group. The IRGC’s public relations office did not respond to a request for comment.
However, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam denied any involvement of Iran or Hezbollah in helping direct the Red Sea offensive. A Hezbollah spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The Houthis, who emerged in the 1980s as an armed group opposing Saudi Arabia’s Sunni religious influence in Yemen, say they support Hamas by attacking commercial ships they believe are linked to Israel or headed for Israeli ports.
2024-01-20 13:36:33
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