Iranian Weapons-Smuggling to Yemen’s Houthis Passes through 3 Countries

Houthi fighters hold up their weapons as they attend a tribal gathering in Sana’a, Yemen June 20, 2016. (Reuters)
Houthi fighters hold up their weapons as they attend a tribal gathering in Sana’a, Yemen June 20, 2016. (Reuters)
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Iranian Weapons-Smuggling to Yemen’s Houthis Passes through 3 Countries

Houthi fighters hold up their weapons as they attend a tribal gathering in Sana’a, Yemen June 20, 2016. (Reuters)
Houthi fighters hold up their weapons as they attend a tribal gathering in Sana’a, Yemen June 20, 2016. (Reuters)

The Arab Coalition Supporting Yemen's Legitimacy showed evidence on Monday of the Iranian tactics to smuggle qualitative weapons to Houthi militias in Yemen and modernize outdated arms.

It added that the smuggling process starts from Lebanese “Hezbollah”-controlled regions in Syria, then passes through Iraq and Iran before reaching Yemen.

Tehran also supplies militias with experts and modern techniques to manufacture remote-controlled explosives-laden speedboats to use them in attacks against ships and therefore affect the navigation in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea.

Kuwaiti expert Dr. Fahd al-Shulaimy highlighted the Iranian smuggling operations, saying that the missiles need technical skills to be launched and tools to be directed. These tools and skills are not found among the former Yemeni regime.

The development of the missiles is taking place by Iranian cadres and in cooperation with “Hezbollah”, he explained. He also noted that “Hezbollah” cadres received training in Iraq and moved to Yemen.

Shulaimy told Asharq Al-Awsat that the number of ballistic missiles is not huge because they are launched intermittently. Their aim is not to destruct specific targets, but to intimidate, restore confidence of insurgents, draw attention of the media towards them and achieve political gains.

The Arab Coalition also addressed mines planted by Houthis, revealing that around 50,000 mines were planted at the Saudi border, which represents a threat to civilians.

Furthermore, a Yemeni official said that Iran is exploiting the weak supervision on international passages near Hodeida Port to smuggle ballistic missiles through dismantling, loading and refurbishing them by 75 Iranian experts spread in several cities.



Musk Says He Is ‘All in’ on Trump in US Election

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) speaks on stage as he joins former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) speaks on stage as he joins former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Musk Says He Is ‘All in’ on Trump in US Election

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) speaks on stage as he joins former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) speaks on stage as he joins former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2024. (AFP)

Elon Musk is ramping up his public support of Donald Trump, telling Tucker Carlson in a conversation streamed Monday that he is "all in" on the Republican presidential candidate.

After appearing alongside Trump at a weekend rally, the world's richest man used a cozy two-hour chat with Carlson to push right-wing talking points, including what he said was the threat to democracy if Democrat Kamala Harris prevails in November's election.

"My view is that if Trump doesn't win this election, it's the last election we're going to have," the Tesla and SpaceX boss told former Fox News host Carlson.

Musk, who has increasingly courted controversy in recent years, said he believed "illegals" -- migrants -- were being deliberately transported to a handful of key states, where if they are eventually granted citizenship, they would become Democrat voters.

"Now these swing-state margins are sometimes ten- twenty-thousand votes. So what happens if you put hundreds of thousands of people into each swing state?

"So my prediction is, if there's another four years of a Dem administration, they will legalize so many illegals that... the next election there won't be any swing states, and this will be a single-party country."

The assertions from Musk -- who is himself from South Africa -- are a common refrain on the political right, which alleges a conspiracy between Democrats and immigrants.

Musk is increasingly becoming a surrogate for Trump on the campaign trail, and is reportedly planning to make a number of stops in battleground states in the coming weeks.

Over the weekend, he unveiled a program promising to pay $47 to anyone who registers voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The scheme is looking to copy successful referral programs the South Africa-born entrepreneur has used in the past with his Tesla electric cars.

In his nearly two-hour chat with Carlson, in which the two men chuckled repeatedly at each other's pronouncements, Musk said he had thrown his full backing behind fellow billionaire Trump.

"If he loses, it's going to be hard for you to pretend you never supported him," said Carlson.

"I'm like, all in, baby," replied Musk.

"How long do you think my prison sentence is gonna be?" he chortled, laughing at the idea that the tables would turn against him under a Democratic administration. "Will I see my children? I don't know."