Report: IRGC Held Naval Exercises for Houthis in North Iran

Revolutionary Guard speedboats during maneuvers on Abu Musa Island last August (Tasnim)
Revolutionary Guard speedboats during maneuvers on Abu Musa Island last August (Tasnim)
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Report: IRGC Held Naval Exercises for Houthis in North Iran

Revolutionary Guard speedboats during maneuvers on Abu Musa Island last August (Tasnim)
Revolutionary Guard speedboats during maneuvers on Abu Musa Island last August (Tasnim)

Dozens of Houthi militants received trainings from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps at a naval academy for special forces in northern Iran, the UK’s The Telegraph daily has revealed.

A group of 200 Houthi fighters travelled to the Khameini Academy of Naval Sciences and Technology in Ziba Kenar on the Caspian coastline, sources inside Iran told The Telegraph. The claim was verified by multiple defense sources, it added.

A section is dedicated to the six-month training course for foreign mercenaries under the command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, including the Houthis.

The academy was established in 2013 and within four years, all IRGC naval training, including that of Iran’s proxies, was transferred there.

The first course for Houthis in naval science and technology was launched in January 2020, and the Houthis were housed separately from other students, who were barred from interacting with them to prevent intelligence leaks.

The Telegraph then revealed that the Farur Island, a small, uninhabited island in the middle of the Gulf controlled by the IRGC Navy, is also used for training Iran’s mercenaries.

The Island is in a strategic position, described by the IRGC as a conflict area as it includes the occupied Emirati islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb.

The Houthi group has been launching attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.

On Thursday, the US and UK forces said they have shot down more than 20 drones and missiles over the Red Sea launched by the Houthis, in what London branded Wednesday the “largest attack” yet by the Iran-backed insurgents.

Washington and London have also hinted at further measures to protect international shipping lanes.

This week, the UN Security Council issued a resolution that demanded the Houthis to immediately end attacks on ships in the Red Sea.



US Condemns Sudan's RSF for Attacks on Civilians, Calls for Accountability 

Displaced Sudanese children, who are mostly from the capital Khartoum, play at "Abdallah Nagi" shelter camp, in Port Sudan, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Displaced Sudanese children, who are mostly from the capital Khartoum, play at "Abdallah Nagi" shelter camp, in Port Sudan, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Condemns Sudan's RSF for Attacks on Civilians, Calls for Accountability 

Displaced Sudanese children, who are mostly from the capital Khartoum, play at "Abdallah Nagi" shelter camp, in Port Sudan, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Displaced Sudanese children, who are mostly from the capital Khartoum, play at "Abdallah Nagi" shelter camp, in Port Sudan, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

The Trump administration on Tuesday condemned attacks by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on civilians in North Darfur and called for parties in the country's civil war to be held accountable for breaches of international humanitarian law.

"We are deeply alarmed by reports the RSF has deliberately targeted civilians and humanitarian actors in Zamzam and Abu Shouk," US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters, referring to two camps in the region where hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in recent days, according to the UN.

"The belligerents must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and must be held accountable," Bruce added.

The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the army and RSF, shattering hopes for a transition to civilian rule.

The warring parties should put down their guns and negotiate a durable peace, said Bruce, who declined to say if the US was conducting diplomacy toward a settlement.

Bruce also declined to say whether the Trump administration agreed with a finding by the State Department under former President Joe Biden that the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in the conflict.