Yemeni Military: Iran Controls Houthi Naval Attacks

Houthi attacks threaten an environmental disaster on Yemeni shores (State TV)
Houthi attacks threaten an environmental disaster on Yemeni shores (State TV)
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Yemeni Military: Iran Controls Houthi Naval Attacks

Houthi attacks threaten an environmental disaster on Yemeni shores (State TV)
Houthi attacks threaten an environmental disaster on Yemeni shores (State TV)

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit is directing Houthi military operations, including attacks on Red Sea navigation, Yemeni military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat, affirming that the Houthis have used up most of their missile stockpile.
The sources, speaking under the condition of anonymity, confirm that most of the weapons currently used to target ships are from Iran, modified and assembled in Sanaa and other centers in Saada province.
Members of the Revolutionary Guard have been entering Yemen, revealed the sources, adding that some of them were smuggled across land borders into Saada province by professional smugglers.
Others arrived by sea, particularly along the coasts of Hajjah province facing the Red Sea, sources added.
The sources also affirmed that a team of members from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group oversee every aspect of the military and political activities of the Houthis.
This includes assembling missiles and drones, preparing unmanned boats and submarines, and even controlling the release of military information and videos of operations.
They also influence the content of speeches made by the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
The sources confirmed that the Red Sea situation is linked to military actions against Yemeni government forces and their coalition backers.
Houthi fighters, trained in Iranian Revolutionary Guard camps, have limited involvement in launching basic short-range drones. Advanced weaponry remains solely under Iranian control.
Moreover, Yemeni intelligence suggests that a key Iranian Revolutionary Guard figure, Abdul Reza Shahlai, is likely leading all Houthi military operations.
So far, US airstrikes have hit Houthi weaponry hard, especially missiles and drones, thanks to advanced surveillance tech.
To counter this, Iranian experts advised the Houthis to dig large trenches in mountainous areas overlooking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, hiding missile platforms and drones.



Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
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Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)

A Syrian doctor who had practiced in Germany was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Monday for crimes against humanity and war crimes after he was found guilty of torturing dissidents in Syria.

The 40-year-old, identified only as Alaa M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was found guilty of killing two people and torturing another eight during his time working in Syria as a doctor at a military hospital and detention center in Homs in 2011 and 2012.

The court said his crimes were part of a systematic attack against people protesting against then-President Bashar al-Assad that precipitated the country's civil war.

Assad was toppled in December. His government denied it tortured prisoners.

Alaa M. arrived in Germany in 2015, after fleeing to Germany among a large influx of Syrian refugees, and became one of roughly 10,000 Syrian medics who helped ease acute staff shortages in the country's healthcare system.

He was arrested in June 2020, and was handed a life sentence without parole, the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt said in a statement.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty, saying he was the target of a conspiracy.

German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

They have targeted several former Syrian officials in similar cases in recent years.

The plaintiffs were supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

ECCHR lawyer Patrick Kroker called Monday's ruling "a further step towards a comprehensive reckoning with Assad's crimes".

Judges found that the doctor caused "considerable physical suffering" as a result of the torture inflicted on his victims, which included serious beatings, mistreating wounds and inflicting serious injury to the genitals of two prisoners, one of whom was a teenage boy.

Two patients died after he gave them lethal medication, the court statement said.

Monday's ruling can be appealed.