London/Ankara/Dubai: Senior Iranian official said Major General Qassem Sulaimani, commander of the Qods Force - the external arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - met top IRGC officials in Tehran last month to look at ways to “empower” Al Houthi militants in Yemen.
“At this meeting, they agreed to increase the amount of help, through training, arms and financial support,” the official said.
Iran’s actions in Yemen seem to reflect the growing influence of hardliners in Tehran, keen to pre-empt a tougher policy towards Iran signalled by US President Donald Trump.
A former senior Iranian security official said Iran’s hardline rulers planned to empower Al Houthi militia in Yemen to “strengthen their hand in the region”.
“They are planning to create a Hezbollah-like militia in Yemen. To confront Riyadh’s hostile policies ... Iran needs to use all its cards,” the former official said.
A Western diplomat in the Middle East agreed: “Iran has long been trying to cultivate portions of Al Houthi militias as a disruptive force in Yemen.
“This is not to say that Al Houthis are Hezbollah, but they do not need to be to achieve Iran’s goals, which is to encircle the Saudis, expand its influence and power projection in the region and develop levers of unconventional pressure.” Sources say Iran is using ships to deliver supplies to Yemen either directly or via Somalia, bypassing coalition efforts to intercept shipments.
Western sources say once the ships arrive in the region, the cargoes are transferred to small fishing boats, which are hard to spot because they are so common in these waters.
Favoured areas are believed to include fishing coves around the port of Al Mukalla, even though that would require smuggled men or equipment to make a long risky journey to the main Al Houthi-controlled districts.
The coalition ejected Al Qaida from the area last year, but still cannot prevent the smuggling of weapons and people, according to sources familiar with the waters.
The Arab coalition’s General Ahmad Assiri acknowledged the difficulties of policing 2,700 km of coastline around Yemen.
“You cannot observe this length of coast even if you bring in all the navies of the world,” he said.
“If we stop movement of those small boats, this will affect fishing by normal people.”
From September 2015 until March 2016, the French and Australian navies frequently intercepted weapons which officials said were most likely bound for the Al Houthis.
A US defence official said Iranian weapons smuggling to the Al Houthis had continued apace since March last year, when the seizures stopped.
The equipment included long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching deep into Saudi Arabia.
“There is no plausible explanation for these weapons’ appearance other than outside assistance. We assess that assistance has likely come from Iran,” the US official said.
Nic Jenzen-Jones, a military arms specialist and director of Armament Research Services, which has tracked Iranian equipment ending up in Yemen, also said quantities had increased.
“We have seen some more success in sea-based transfers over the last few months and I suspect the general uptick in the frequency of Iranian arms that we are documenting is partially a result of more successful deliveries by sea,” Jenzen-Jones said.
Evidence of more sophisticated equipment suspected of being used by the Al Houthis has emerged in recent attacks.
On Jan. 30, a Saudi frigate was attacked near the Al Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah, in an operation that Saudi official media blamed on the Al Houthis.
The US Navy said an unmanned remote-controlled boat laden with explosives rammed the Saudi vessel in the first known strike by a “drone” attack boat, and the Al Houthis had likely used technology supplied by Iran.
In another development this month, a Yemeni government source told Reuters a coast guard boat was destroyed near Mokha by mines laid by the Al Houthis.
Jenzen-Jones said the quality of Iranian munitions had improved of late.
“Recent transfers of arms and munitions have also included Iranian Ababil series UAVs (drones), fitted with high explosive warheads and used by Al Houthis to engage high-value targets, such as radar and Patriot missile batteries,” he said.
Anti-ship and man-portable missiles were also suspected to have been transferred, he said.
In addition to the weapons, Iranian and regional sources said Tehran was providing Afghan and Shiite Arab specialists to train Al Houthi units and act as logistical advisers. These included Afghans who had fought in Syria under Qods Force commanders.
Reuters has reported this same covert approach was used in Syria in 2014 before Iran took a more open role in that war.
