Yemeni Army Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Iranians Continue Smuggling Arms to Support Houthis

 The Iran-backed Houthis committed 389 violations that led to the death of 70 civilians across Yemen last month. (Reuters/File photo)
The Iran-backed Houthis committed 389 violations that led to the death of 70 civilians across Yemen last month. (Reuters/File photo)
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Yemeni Army Spokesman to Asharq Al-Awsat: Iranians Continue Smuggling Arms to Support Houthis

 The Iran-backed Houthis committed 389 violations that led to the death of 70 civilians across Yemen last month. (Reuters/File photo)
The Iran-backed Houthis committed 389 violations that led to the death of 70 civilians across Yemen last month. (Reuters/File photo)

Yemeni Army spokesman Brigadier General Abdo Majli told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday that the Iranian regime is still involved in the smuggling of arms and missiles to the Houthi militias in Yemen. He said the smuggling operation happens through the Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa ports, on the Red Sea coasts.

“We are talking about an open area. The arms are smuggled in boats crossing the international waters to the Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen,” Majli said.

The General explained that weapons are sometimes transformed in spare parts, which are then gathered by Iranian experts in Sanaa or in Saadah.

At the battlefield, Majli called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to remove the bodies of hundreds of Houthi militias laid at the Nahm and Jawf fronts, after being left by the group when the National Army confronted their infiltration attempts in the area few weeks ago.

“The victories of the National Army continue in the Jawf governorate, where we control large territories,” he said.

Yemeni army commanders said Houthis suffered heavy losses over the last couple of weeks during fighting in Yemen’s main battlefields of Sanaa, Marib, Jawf and Taiz as government forces announced the death and injury of hundreds of Houthis since early last month. 

“More than 80 percent of the Jawf governorate is now captured by the legitimacy,” Majli said, adding that the army controls several highlands, particularly the Black Mountains.

In a related development, the National Army, backed by Coalition helicopters and tanks, launched a wide attack on Houthi militia positions in Maran, in the governorate of Saada.

“The attack left several Houthi deaths and injuries at the frontiers of the Akim mountain, which overlooks the Mastaba and Marawi mountains,” Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Ajabi, commander of the 3rd Commando Brigade told the Saba news agency on Monday.



Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Room for Kurdish Militants in Syria's Future

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024.  EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
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Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Room for Kurdish Militants in Syria's Future

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024.  EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE

Türkiye’s foreign minister said after meeting Syria's de facto leader in Damascus on Sunday that there was no room for Kurdish militants in Syria's future, calling for the YPG militia to disband.
Türkiye regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
Sunday's visit to Damascus by Hakan Fidan, the first foreign minister to visit Damascus since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow two weeks ago, came amid hostilities in northeast Syria between Turkish-backed Syrian fighters and the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast.
Speaking alongside Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Fidan said he had discussed the YPG presence with the new Syrian administration and believed Damascus would take steps to ensure Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
"In the coming period, the YPG must come to a point where it is no longer a threat to Syria's national unity," Fidan said, adding the YPG should disband.
The SDF played a key role defeating ISIS militants in 2014-2017 with US air support, and still guards ISIS fighters in prison camps. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the group would try to re-establish capabilities in this period.
Fidan said the international community was "turning a blind eye" to the "illegality" of the SDF and YPG's actions in Syria, but added that he believed US President-elect Donald Trump would take a different approach.
He said the new Syrian administration had told him during their talks that they could manage the ISIS prison camps, if needed.
In a Reuters interview on Thursday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye. He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense minister said Ankara believed Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all of the territory they occupy in the northeast.
Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halt support for the Kurdish fighters.
Ankara had for years backed opposition groups looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.
Fidan said all international sanctions imposed against Assad must be lifted as soon as possible to help Syria start rebuilding, offering Ankara's assistance on matters such as infrastructure development.
Sharaa told Sunday's press conference his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.