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Exclusive: Tehran Intimidates Regional States through its Proxies

Houthi insurgents react while riding on the back of a truck as they attend a tribal gathering in Yemen's capital Sana'a, August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
Houthi insurgents react while riding on the back of a truck as they attend a tribal gathering in Yemen's capital Sana'a, August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
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Exclusive: Tehran Intimidates Regional States through its Proxies

Houthi insurgents react while riding on the back of a truck as they attend a tribal gathering in Yemen's capital Sana'a, August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi
Houthi insurgents react while riding on the back of a truck as they attend a tribal gathering in Yemen's capital Sana'a, August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

Terrorist militias in the world, especially those supported by Iran, have consistently carried out kidnappings of unarmed “citizens and foreigners”, in order to obtain ransom for their release.
 
Abductions are one of the worst terrorist acts carried out by Iran or its terrorist proxies around the world. They have several objectives: to draw attention to the kidnapping itself, to carry out major schemes behind the scenes, to rearrange Tehran’s bargaining in the region, to overcome damages of economic sanctions imposed on it, and to help those militias finance their operations.
 
According to several international reports, Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups have taken hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom following the kidnappings of foreign tourists, journalists and politicians, women belonging to “ethnic groups” and others working in relief and humanitarian organizations, and who have been rescuing people in disaster or armed conflict zones.
 
According to David Cohen, deputy director of counterterrorism at the US Treasury Department, ransom money earned by terrorist groups (Al-Qaeda and ISIS) between 2012 and 2014 amounted to around $120 million, of which $20 million was obtained by “Al-Qaeda” in Yemen alone.
 
Estimates of international sources also said that Lebanon’s “Hezbollah” was able to get about $300 million in exchange for the release of kidnapped individuals in the past years, and used the funds to support its members and arm them for the purpose of engaging in regional wars in several countries, including Syria and Yemen.
 
In Yemen, organizations reported that Houthi militias abducted around 2,304 civilians from the streets and from their homes, including 987 politicians and opponents to the rebels, while Qatar attempted to exploit the kidnapping propaganda to transfer $500 million to the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, which are supported by Iran, under the pretext of the release of Qatari fishermen kidnapped in Iraq. The Iraqi government, however, prevented the transfer of funds to the militia.
 
In comments to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, Dr. Mohammed Askar, Yemeni Minister of Human Rights, said that Houthi militias “are a terrorist group that has taken over the capabilities of the state and has carried out internationally dubious and illegal acts.”
 
“The group has no legal or political legitimacy and might have resorted to the kidnapping of legal persons and opponents under Iranian orders, in order to intimidate civil society,” he added.
 
Houthi militias, according to the minister, use the kidnapped leaders and opponents as a pressure card to achieve political goals and certain interests, criticizing the international community for remaining silent.

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North Korea Warns of Reprisal Against South Korea-US Drills Despite Signs of Tensions Easing 

A North Korean guard post near the border city of Paju, is seen along with a loudspeaker installation used to blare noise across the border into the South, in this photo taken Aug. 10, 2025. (dpa)
A North Korean guard post near the border city of Paju, is seen along with a loudspeaker installation used to blare noise across the border into the South, in this photo taken Aug. 10, 2025. (dpa)
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North Korea Warns of Reprisal Against South Korea-US Drills Despite Signs of Tensions Easing 

A North Korean guard post near the border city of Paju, is seen along with a loudspeaker installation used to blare noise across the border into the South, in this photo taken Aug. 10, 2025. (dpa)
A North Korean guard post near the border city of Paju, is seen along with a loudspeaker installation used to blare noise across the border into the South, in this photo taken Aug. 10, 2025. (dpa)

North Korea has denounced a major joint exercise planned by the South Korean and US militaries as "direct military provocation" and warned of counteraction, despite signs of easing tension across the border under a new leader in Seoul.

North Korea's Defense Minister No Kwang Chol said its military has an "absolute mission" to defend national security against the large-scale 11-day drills by South Korea and the United States, which he said posed a real and dangerous threat.

"The armed forces of the DPRK will cope with the war drills of the US and the (South) with thoroughgoing and resolute counteraction posture and strictly exercise the sovereign right," No said in a statement issued via the KCNA state news agency on Monday.

DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

No said the drills staged under the pretext of defense against threats were additional proof of the confrontational intent by the two countries that raises hostility and further destabilizes regional security.

North Korea routinely denounces military drills by the South and the United States, having called some previous exercises "a rehearsal" for nuclear war on the Korean peninsula, even as Pyongyang conducted a range of missile tests and live fire artillery exercises.

South Korea and the United States said last week the annual exercise would begin on August 18 to test command control and troop mobilization under an upgraded security strategy against a heightened threat of nuclear warfare by North Korea.

However, the allies said a major part of the field exercise would be postponed and conducted separately next month, citing weather conditions. The postponement was widely seen as prompted by South Korea's liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who won a snap election in June, to ease tension with Pyongyang.

Ties between the rival Koreas had plunged to some of the most hostile points in recent years, as the North pressed on with developing nuclear attack capabilities and dramatically boosted military ties with Russia.

While Pyongyang has publicly rebuffed renewed outreach by Lee and Washington for dialogue, it was making moves seen as reciprocating some South Korean actions to ease tensions.

South Korea said on Saturday it had detected the North's military removing some loudspeakers at the border, days after the South began dismantling similar equipment that had blared propaganda across the border.

North Korea also seemed to have used a more restrained tone in criticisms about the US-South Korea joint exercises, said an official at Seoul's Unification Ministry, which oversees ties between the Koreas.

Pyongyang "appears to focus on expressing its position on the drills, rather than making military threats," ministry spokesperson Koo Byoungsam said at a briefing on Monday.