From UN expert report: Iran, Hezbollah helped Houthis with tactical, technical training outside Yemen
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have grown “from a localized armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organization” with the help of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah and Iraqi specialists, according to a confidential report by UN sanctions monitors.
The independent panel of experts, who report annually to the UN Security Council, says Houthi fighters have been receiving tactical and technical training outside Yemen, traveling on fake passports to Iran, Lebanon and Iraq.
Over the past year, the Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial Red Sea shipping channels to show support for Palestinians in the Gaza war with Israel, disrupting global maritime trade by forcing shipping firms to divert cargo.
“The multiple testimonies gathered by the panel from military experts, Yemeni officials and even individuals close to the Houthis, indicate that they do not have the capacity to develop and produce, without foreign support, complex weapon systems,” the UN experts write in their latest report, seen by Reuters.
“The scale, nature and the extent of transfers of diverse military materiel and technology provided to the Houthis from external sources, including financial support and training of its combatants, is unprecedented,” they says.
The Iran-backed Houthis did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the UN report.
The sanctions monitors say weapons systems operated by the Houthis are similar to those produced and operated by Iran and terror groups of the Tehran-backed “Axis of Resistance” opposed to Israel and US influence in the Middle East.
“This transformation has been possible due to the transfer of materiel and the assistance and training provided by IRGC-QF, Hezbollah, and Iraqi specialists and technicians to the Houthis,” the UN experts report to the 15-member Security Council Yemen sanctions committee. “IRGC-QF” refers to the Quds Force, the overseas branch of the Revolutionary Guards.
Built up over years or decades of Iranian support, the “Axis of Resistance” includes the Houthis, Palestinian terror group Hamas, Lebanon-based Hezbollah, and various armed groups in Iraq and Syria.
