Tehran, Iran – Strategic military victories in Yemen by the Tehran-allied Ansar Allah, also known as Houthis, have directed attention towards Iran’s role in the war against the internationally recognised Yemeni government. According to recent US media reports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) helped direct an offensive in western Yemen that solidified Houthi control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait and the port city of Mocha. The Houthis gains on the coast coincide with Iran’s disruptions of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to pressure Washington to lift its naval blockade, US media have reported in recent weeks.
IRGC advisers worked with front-line commanders, assisted with communications and satellite-intelligence analysis, and promised ongoing military support to the Houthis, according to unnamed officials and soldiers cited. Iranian authorities have not commented on details of the latest allegations but have broadly denied directing the Houthis. They and the Houthis have long stressed the Yemeni group’s independence, despite their geopolitical views often converging.
The IRGC said it viewed the Houthis recent advances in Yemen as a “divine triumph” that followed years of steadfastness. Earlier this week, President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected a connection between Iran and Houthi actions during an interview with Al Jazeera. He also urged Saudi Arabia, which supports the Yemeni government, and the Houthis to negotiate to end the war.
But he did offer Iranian assistance in resolving their years-long conflict, which has included Houthi missile and drone attacks on cities in Saudi Arabia. Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this month rejected a charge by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the Houthis are a proxy of Iran. It also highlighted the dire humanitarian consequences of a Saudi blockade on Yemen.
In mid-July, an Iranian passenger aircraft attempted to break the blockade by landing in the Houthi-run airport in the capital Sanaa. The aircraft was redirected after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government bombed the airport shortly before it was due to land. The aeroplane ended up touching down in Hodeidah, and a Houthi official denied government allegations that the plane carried IRGC personnel.
Iran’s authorities said the plane carried a Houthi delegation which had participated in the funeral of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as a number of Yemeni nationals who had received medical treatment in Iran. This September, the Houthis captured Mocha, Dhubab and Mayyun (or Perim) Island, giving them command of Yemen’s west coast and the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. It also cut the internationally recognised Yemeni government’s access to the Red Sea.
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