🔶 Wall Street Journal: Iran has increased military aid to the Houthis

The newspaper “Wall Street Journal,” citing sources in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, reports that Iran has increased its military assistance to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and helped the group carry out more complex attacks against Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies.

According to the report, Tehran has helped the Houthis with the provision of security information, training, tactical advice, and assistance in targeting missile and drone strikes, enabling them to quickly seize more areas.

The Iran-backed group now has control of Yemen’s coastline along the strategic Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, a key gateway for Saudi oil shipments, and has targeted oil tankers, energy infrastructure, and Saudi airports.

These growing collaborations demonstrate Iran’s ability to exert pressure on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries through proxy groups—at a time when the United States is seeking to end the war with the Islamic Republic.

Deni Sitrenovich, a former senior researcher in the Israeli army’s Iran affairs, tells the Wall Street Journal: “This linkage is very, very strong at the operational level.” He describes the relationship as “strategic cooperation based on shared interests that relies not on a lord-and-vassal relationship, but on a strategic partnership.”

For years, Iran has supported the Houthis in military actions against Saudi Arabia, and by sending weapons and deploying Revolutionary Guard Corps forces and Hezbollah, it has provided training to the group in the production and use of missiles and drones.