Iranian Hezbollah official supports Houthi attack on Red Sea ships = sources | Reuters

Commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah are helping Houthi rebels in Yemen carry out attacks on Red Sea shipping, sources said. In this photo, cadets salute during the funeral procession of Houthi fighters killed in the US-led attack in Sanaa on the 17th (2024 Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

[ドバイ ２０日 ロイター] – Commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah are helping Houthi rebels in Yemen carry out attacks on Red Sea shipping, sources said.

Iran has traditionally provided weapons and funds to the Houthis, as well as providing military training, but is said to have increased its supply of weapons since fighting began between the Islamic group Hamas and the Israeli army in the autonomous Palestinian region of Gaza.

The Houthis began attacking commercial ships in November last year in solidarity with Hamas. Sources say Iran has provided the Houthis with advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), anti-ship cruise missiles, precision strike ballistic missiles and intermediate-range missiles.

Revolutionary Guards commanders and advisers also provide know-how and data to determine which ships in the Red Sea are heading towards Israel, the sources say.

Sources with experience in Yemen’s military say Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah fighters are conducting military operations and training in the country, as well as assembling smuggled weapons parts.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qanani has repeatedly denied any Houthi involvement in the attack on the Red Sea ship.

Houthi spokesman Abdul Salam denied that Iran or Hezbollah were directing attacks against Red Sea shipping. The Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants on shipping in the Red Sea are disrupting maritime trade through the Suez Canal, with some ships being redirected on a much longer east-west route through the southern tip of Africa.

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2024-01-22 13:53:13
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