In a strategic move this month, Iran transported commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), military advisors, and missile-related equipment to Yemen aboard an airplane, suggesting Tehran’s intent to strengthen its ally, the Houthi rebels. This information comes from four sources cited by Reuters on Thursday.
The sources, which include two Iranian contacts, Yemen’s Minister of Information, and a regional security analyst, reported that the IRGC personnel and military gear were transferred on July 13 via a flight from Tehran to Yemen. This development had not been previously reported by international media.
According to the sources, between 10 and 21 IRGC members, including high-ranking commanders, were on board a Mahan Air flight. Initially bound for the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, the aircraft was redirected to the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah after the airport was attacked by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
One source stated, “The IRGC commanders were sent to support Houthi operations and provide training on new missile systems,” adding that Iran also sent gold aboard the flight to finance Houthi activities.
These Iranian sources spoke under anonymity for security reasons.
This deployment offers new evidence of Iran’s efforts to back the Houthi movement, which has been in a civil war against the internationally recognized Yemeni government for over a decade. The Houthi group has targeted neighboring Gulf countries with missiles and drones.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry could not be reached for immediate comment. Tehran has repeatedly denied providing ballistic capabilities to the Houthi movement in Yemen.
Abdel Rahman al-Ahnomi, a Houthi media representative who claimed to be on the flight, dismissed allegations of Iran sending military experts to Yemen as “lies and fabrications,” insisting that all passengers on the flight were civilians.
The Houthi movement has previously denied being an Iranian proxy and stated that it is developing its own weapons.
Following the IRGC Commanders’ Arrival, Houthis Blockade Saudi Arabia
Three days after the flight’s arrival in Yemen, Reuters reported that Tehran had instructed the Houthi movement to be prepared to close the Red Sea oil route in the event of a U.S. attack on Iranian energy infrastructure, marking a new threat to global energy supplies.
On Monday, the militant group, which controls a region in Yemen with access to this navigable route, announced a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in response to the July 13 bombing of the Sanaa airport, which they attributed to Saudi forces.
These actions marked the end of a four-year truce between Riyadh and the Houthi group. The threat posed by them to one of the world’s major maritime trade routes intensified further on Thursday when the group announced it had attacked two Saudi oil tankers.
Moammar al-Iryani, Yemen’s Minister of Information in the Saudi-backed government, confirmed the IRGC personnel and equipment transfers in a phone interview with Reuters, citing intelligence sources.
“Their mission is to enhance the military capabilities of the militias and prepare them to threaten international maritime security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait,” he stated.
Mzahem Alsaloum, a security analyst who has been monitoring the Houthi movement and other Iranian-supported groups for years, also confirmed the arrival of the IRGC experts on the July 13 flight.
The Flight Carried Missile and Drone Components
The analyst noted that part of the payload included components related to short- and medium-range missiles and drones, similar to those previously used in attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
According to Alsaloum, Tehran also sent military advisors to Yemen during last year’s war with Israel, reportedly through Somalia, a claim denied by Tehran.
The Houthi rebels had announced earlier this month direct flights between Sanaa and Tehran, claiming the service would help break what they described as a blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia on Yemen.
At a press conference in Tehran on July 20, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei stated that the July 13 flight aimed to repatriate a Houthi delegation that had visited Tehran for the funeral of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Yemeni citizens who had received medical treatment in Iran.
On July 3, the aircraft transported a group of around 200 individuals, including high-ranking officials, women, and children to Iran for the funeral. On July 13, the four sources clarified that the aircraft returned to Yemen carrying members of the delegation, alongside IRGC commanders and advisors. Before it could land in Sanaa, the Saudi-backed government attacked the airport, forcing the aircraft to change its flight path to Hodeidah, a city controlled by the Houthis.
The Houthi army claimed that the Saudi fighter jets that launched the attack on the airport were forced to exit Yemeni airspace.
