Iran ‘smuggling potent weapons to Houthis’

Iran is smuggling increasingly formidable weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen not seen in the country before the conflict, the top US general in the Middle East said.

Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan on Monday told The New York Times that Iran was supplying the Shiite rebels with antiship and ballistic missiles, sea mines and explosive boats – weapons used to attack allied ships in the Red Sea and Saudi territory across Yemen’s north-east border.

“These types of weapons did not exist in Yemen before the conflict,” Adm Donegan said. “It’s not rocket science to conclude that the Houthis are not only getting these systems, but probably training, advice and assistance in how to use them.”

The Houthis and allied fighters are battling the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE. The US is working with the coalition to restore Mr Hadi to power.

The violence began after the Houthis captured the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and later advanced south, taking large areas of the country. The coalition intervened in the war in March 2015 and has helped pro-government forces retake much of the territory captured by the rebels.

The Houthis are allied with renegade soldiers loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Adm Donegan was speaking from his Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain as he prepared to conclude his two-year tour.

The general’s comments came after Reuters last month reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had begun using a new route across the Arabian Gulf for covert arms shipments to the Houthis.

In March, regional and western sources said Iran was shipping weapons and military advisers to the Houthis either directly to Yemen or via Somalia. But that route risked contact with international naval vessels on patrol in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

As a result, western and Iranian sources said that for the past six months, the Guards had been using waters farther up the Arabian Gulf, between Kuwait and Iran, to reach the Houthis.

Also in March, the arms tracking NGO Conflict Armament Research said Iran had transferred so-called “kamikaze” drones to the Houthis, who had used them to disable coalition missile defences.