Report Claims Houthi Fighters Trained in Iran
The UK Telegraph released a report on Wednesday asserting that many of Yemen’s Houthi rebels received direct military training in Iran from the Islamic Republic’s elite paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Citing defense sources familiar with the situation, the Telegraph claims that as many as 200 Houthi fighters were brought to Iran’s Khamenei Academy of Naval Sciences and Technology, described as an elite naval academy in Zibakenar, and given formal military training and instruction.
The report also notes that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran’s Shia-led theocratic state, has “taken a personal role” in supporting the Houthis’ Red Sea campaign and has ordered the transfer of more weapons, economic aid, and other supplies to the rebel faction.
The Houthis have long operated under the political and ideological umbrella of Iran, serving as a core member of the Islamic Republic’s self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance,” which includes both Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah. While both are Shia Muslims, the Houthi alliance with Iran is primarily based on geopolitical goals, as the Yemeni group follows the Zaidi branch of Shia, while Iran is predominantly Twelver Shia.
Over the last two months, the Yemen-based Houthis have launched numerous rocket and drone attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Publicly claiming to target ships traveling to or with ties to Israel, Houthi leadership says the attacks are done in solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinian people of Gaza and will only cease once Israel withdraws its forces from the enclave and ends the war.
The US-led naval coalition formed last month to counter Houthi aggression and protect the critical shipping lane has since shot down dozens of rockets and drones, with warships even coming under fire on occasions.
