Yemeni forces seized a vessel off the Lahj coast west of Aden that was loaded with military gear and drone components headed to the Iran-backed Houthi militias.
The bust demonstrates Iran’s continued support to the group that has escalated its attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Giants Brigades said a joint security operation, led by Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, commander of the Brigades’ Second Unit, intercepted the shipment. Three smugglers were on board the vessel.
The confiscated shipment included advanced military gear, drone parts, surveillance equipment, advanced electronic chips, high accuracy cameras that are fitted on drones for night and day surveillance, communication devices, remote controls, high-capacity batteries and carbon fibers used in drone manufacturing.
This was the third busted smuggling attempt in recent weeks.
Yemeni authorities had seized a similar shipment in Aden in August that contained espionage devices and drones. A United Nations report at the time had found that the Houthis were involved in a weapons smuggling network that includes the Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula and the extremist Al-Shabaab group in Somalia.
Weeks ago, Yemen’s coast guard seized off the western coast a vessel loaded with over 700 tons of advanced weapons that was headed to areas held by the Houthis.
In a recent report, the London-based Conflict Armament Research said the Houthis had obtained advanced weapons from Iran through sophisticated smuggling networks. Among the weapons were air defense systems, anti-ship missiles and components used in drones.
The weapons shipments seized near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait showed that the majority of the weapons were connected to Iranian networks that had been documented in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The report confirmed that such support has allowed the Houthis to expand the scope of their military and air operations, including attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have carried out over 220 attacks on marine shipping in the past two years. They had started these attacks in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza since the eruption of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023.
Government sources said the frequent busts of smuggling operations demonstrate that the Houthis continue to build an arsenal of advanced naval and air weapons through Iranian support in defiance of UN Security Council resolution and in service of goals that go beyond Yemen.
Information Minister in Yemen’s legitimate government Moammar al-Eryani said the Houthi attacks against commercial ships and oil tankers in international shipping lanes were not acts of solidarity with Gaza as they claim, but rather implementation of an Iranian agenda.
The escalation of these attacks since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack reflects Iran’s attempts to consolidate its presence and influence in strategic waterways and it is using the Houthis as a pressure card in its conflict with the international community, he said in official statements.
Moreover, he added that the Houthi attack against a Dutch ship in the Gulf of Aden on September 29 took place just days after European powers reactivated the snapback mechanism, demonstrating that Tehran spurs the Houthis to action to serve its interests.
The Iranian regime is using the militias to extort and threaten the international community whenever it finds itself cornered or when its room to maneuver becomes limited, explained the minister.
As the war on Gaza draws to an end in wake of US President Donald Trump’s peace plane, the world will discover that the Houthis are an arm of Iran’s Wilayet al-Faqih agenda that has nothing to do with the interests of the Yemeni or Palestinian people, he stressed.
He called on the international community, starting with the European Union and UK, to assume their legal and moral responsibilities and designate the Houthis as terrorists who threaten international peace and security.
Eryani also urged support for the legitimate government in its battle to protect marine passages and Yemen’s sovereignty.
