Top Iranian Expert, 8 Others Killed in Yemen: gov’t minister

A top Iranian official, Haidar Sirjan, two colonials and six others were killed Friday in an attack by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani. The attack targeted a Houthi military site in Marib. “This confirms the size and level of Iranian involvement and its destabilizing role in security and stability of Yemen,” Al-Eryani said in a tweet. Sirjan, the minister said, was one of the hundreds of experts that have been sent by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to assist the Houthis in military operations and weapons smuggling against the internationally recognized government. “Iranian expert Haidar Sirjan used to work in the field of training and rehabilitation, specializing in infantry and mountain infantry,” Al-Eryani said. “He is an expert in preparing tactical combat plans and worked as an expert on the fronts of the West Coast until June when was sent to the Marib fronts replacing Lebanese Hezbollah’s Mustafa al-Gharawi who was also killed,” he added. Al-Eryani said the international community should stand up against Iranian interference in Yemen, and accused Iran of “escalating military operations and undermining peace efforts.”