Houthis Threaten to Use New Defense System

Houthi Missile launch from Yemen (File Photo/AFP)
Houthi Missile launch from Yemen (File Photo/AFP)
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Houthis Threaten to Use New Defense System

Houthi Missile launch from Yemen (File Photo/AFP)
Houthi Missile launch from Yemen (File Photo/AFP)

Iran-backed Houthi militias have threatened to use a new air defense system, enhancing their military capabilities to counter the legitimate government.

The newly obtained system is most likely Iranian-made.

The threats came after Houthis’ so-called spokesman Yahya al-Saree and foreign minister Mohammad Abdel Salam Felita met in Tehran with commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Sources believe Felita's visit to Tehran may be linked to efforts to acquire new weapons which Iran smuggles into Yemen using its terrorist arms to reach Hodeidah port. The group still refuses to withdraw from Hodeidah according to the Swedish agreement.

The militias admitted to Felita’s meeting with FM Zarif, however, they did not disclose his meeting with IRGC commanders.

Houthi media claimed that during the meeting, they discussed means to strengthen bilateral and diplomatic relations with Tehran and joint cooperation to support the political solution in Yemen, as well as regional developments.

Observers believe the Iranian regime has summoned Felita to assign the group new terrorist missions in the Red Sea in order to ease international pressure in Hormuz Strait.

The Spokesman indicated that soon there will be discussions on the group’s air defense forces, especially with the recent developments in the system, boosting its performance to carry out operational tasks in various areas.

He indicated that the group’s military militias will soon unveil their new developments of the air defense.

Houthis rely on Iranian missiles and drones they receive to carry out terrorist acts and attacks against the Yemeni army and Saudi civilian areas. However, they claim in media reports that the missiles are manufactured in Yemen.

Despite the group's attempts to hide its direct subjection to Tehran orders, its leaders have always been grateful to Iran and its other arms in the region, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iranian militias in Iraq.

Houthi leader Mohammad Ali al-Houthi said that the US Sanctions against Zarif were a sign of weakness. Mohammad Ali al-Houthi is preparing himself to chair the so-called Supreme Political Council.

The announcement of sanctions against Iran’s foreign minister is a sign of weakness and political lightness, he said, asserting the group’s condemnation for such a move.

He called upon Iran to remain vigilant and recalculate its moves before any contact with the US.

The Houthi leader tried to show his support to Zarif against US sanctions against him by saying they could not reach their goal from Hezbollah, nor from Abdul Malik bin Badreddine al-Houthi, nor anyone else, and they will not harm him.



Sudan's RSF Conducts First Drone Attack on Port Sudan

Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Sudan's RSF Conducts First Drone Attack on Port Sudan

Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a drone attack on a military air base and other facilities in the vicinity of Port Sudan Airport, a Sudanese army spokesperson said on Sunday, in the first RSF attack to reach the eastern port city.
No casualties were reported from the attacks, the spokesperson said.
The RSF has not commented on the incident, Reuters said.
The RSF has targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months but the strikes had not inflicted heavy casualties.
The drone attack on Port Sudan indicates a major shift in the two-year conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The eastern regions, which shelter a large number of displaced people, had so far avoided bombardment.
The army has responded by beefing up its deployment around vital facilities in Port Sudan and has closed roads leading to the presidential palace and army command.
Port Sudan, home to the country's primary airport, army headquarters and a seaport, has been perceived as the safest place in the war-ravaged nation.
In March, the army ousted the RSF from its last footholds in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, but the paramilitary RSF holds some areas in Omdurman, directly across the Nile River, and has consolidated its position in west Sudan, splitting the nation into rival zones.
The conflict between the army and the RSF has unleashed waves of ethnic violence and created what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with several areas plunged into famine.
The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. It ruined much of Khartoum, uprooted more than 12 million Sudanese from their homes and left about half of the 50 million population suffering from acute hunger.
Overall deaths are hard to estimate but a study published last year said the toll may have reached 61,000 in Khartoum state alone in the first 14 months of the conflict.