Iran is preparing the Houthis for a possible escalation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab
English - Thursday 19 August 2021 الساعة 03:15 pm
Aden, NewsYemen:
In an interview with Jewish News Syndicate – translated by the Sana’a Center for Studies – a senior Israeli military official said that Iran views the ongoing attacks by the Houthis in Yemen on Saudi Arabia and others in the region as an “important laboratory of experiments; To test new types of weapons and their combat theories.”
Colonel (Reserves) Shaul Shai said that Israel should use its influence in the international community; To highlight the threat to the region and to international navigation in the Red Sea, adding that the Houthis pose a threat to Israeli shipping ships and could be involved in a future escalation by directly targeting Israel with long-range missiles.
He said that the main potential flashpoint is related to the Houthi threats to Israeli navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, noting that the Houthis are equipped with a range of naval weapons, including anti-ship missiles.
He added that even far from the Yemeni coast, the Houthis could use the "mother ship" to launch attacks on ships in the depths of the Red Sea. The Houthis could also attempt to attack Israeli ships, or those they deem to be, if they had the opportunity to do so.
Shay estimated that the Houthis, who constantly threaten Israel during their speeches, have a real but limited ability to target Israel directly from Yemen with long-range missiles and drones. He said that in addition to smuggling ready-made weapons, Iran has also started exporting technological know-how to the Houthis, even though Yemen has a growing infrastructure and the ability to produce missiles and missiles.
Regarding smuggling routes, he said, Iranian ships often circumvent the naval patrols that enforce the embargo. Weapons are often transferred from one Iranian ship to another. The second smuggling route includes the smuggling of weapons by land to Yemen via Oman without the knowledge of the Omani government. The third channel is the smuggling of weapons to Yemen via Somalia.
Shay said that the United States and the international community should stop the Iranian activity of these militias, and the Israeli cooperation with the circle of "Sunni" Arab countries that are directly threatened by the Houthi group, and that Israel should activate its influence in the United States and Europe, and explain the regional threats, to each of the neighbors Yemen and free shipping in the Red Sea.
"Yemen is far away, and the Houthi threat seems far-fetched compared to Hezbollah and Hamas, but it exists," he added.
