Attacks hit Saudi cities as Iran support for Houthis is probed and Yemen fighting erupts
Claims of Iranian assistance
Media reports describe Iranian support for the Houthis as including training, intelligence, tactical guidance and help targeting drone and missile attacks. The reports say this backing contributed to a September offensive in which the group took control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
Major-General Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government, confirmed that an external state actor was involved in the Houthis’ evolving arsenal but did not identify it. He said the support enabled the group to deploy ballistic missiles, offensive and suicide drones, and explosive-laden high-speed boats.
Evidence and disputed details
One reported indication of Iranian links was the July bombing of Sanaa International Airport, before an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation from Tehran was due to land. Yemen’s government said its forces carried out the attack and accused the aircraft of violating Yemeni airspace.
Al-Dahab cited the killing of Hassan Irloo, described as a Revolutionary Guard envoy to the Houthis, after the 2021 military campaign on Marib, as well as Mahan aviation flights carrying experts. He also said weapons, including precision technology for missiles and unmanned aircraft, were smuggled by small submarines. The article provides no independent confirmation of that claim.
Red Sea strategic concerns
Al-Dahab said Iran views the Houthis as a key military and security force south of the Red Sea, and argued that their role could support Iran in a possible battle around the Strait of Hormuz. He also warned that armed groups in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden could unite under Iranian leadership against the United States, Britain and Europe.
Saudi Arabia and Iran signed a China-brokered reconciliation agreement in Beijing in 2023 after years of hostility that included suspended diplomatic relations. The article also includes Alghannam’s view that keeping the Yemen and Iran issues separate can only work until the separation is openly challenged.
Yemen conflict and political risks
The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen began in March 2015, bringing Riyadh into direct conflict with the Houthis. Despite substantial Saudi support for Yemen’s internationally recognised government, it did not retake Sanaa, and divisions between that government and southern separatists exposed weaknesses in the anti-Houthi coalition.
Alghannam recalled that in 2014 the Houthis were offered seats, special status for Saada and a share of executive authority in return for handing heavy weapons to the state. He said the group later seized institutions, detained the president and dissolved parliament while keeping its weapons. A later comment in the article said Riyadh needs to link money and weapons to genuine integration under one command.
Key points
- Reports describe Iranian help to the Houthis as including training, intelligence and targeting support.
- A Saudi-led coalition spokesperson confirmed an external state actor was behind the Houthis’ changing arsenal but did not name it.
- The Houthis took control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and the Bab al-Mandeb strait during a September offensive, according to the reports.
- Saudi Arabia’s intervention began in March 2015, but its supported government did not retake Sanaa.