Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for
spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
this month, according to four sources, in a move that suggests Tehran is seeking to strengthen the ability of its Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
allies to threaten Red Sea shipping.
Four sources familiar with the matter, including two Iranian sources, Yemen’s information minister and a regional security analyst, said Iran transferred the IRGC personnel and military-related equipment on a flight from Tehran to Yemen on July 13, a development that has not been previously reported.
Cratering the runway seems easy enough.
Prob the fuel depot too.
The two Iranian sources told Rooters that between 10 and 21 IRGC personnel, including senior commanders, were on the Mahan Air flight.
The plane was originally bound for the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, but diverted to the Red Sea port city of Hodeida after the airport came under attack by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
"The IRGC commanders traveled there to support Houthi operations and provide training on new missile systems," one of the sources said, adding that Iran also sent gold on the aircraft to fund Houthi activities.
The two Iranian sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
The deployment offers fresh evidence of Iran’s efforts to bolster the Houthis, who have been in a civil war against the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government for more than a decade and have attacked Gulf neighbors and Israel with missiles and drones.
Iran’s foreign ministry was not immediately available to comment. Tehran has repeatedly denied providing the Houthi movement in Yemen with missile capabilities.
Abdel Rahman al-Ahnomi, a Houthi media official who said he was aboard the plane, described the allegations that Iran sent military experts to Yemen as "lies and fabrications," claiming that all passengers aboard the plane were civilians.
The group has previously denied being an Iranian proxy and has said it develops its own weapons.
HOUTHIS LAUNCHED SAUDI BLOCKADE AFTER COMMANDERS ARRIVED
Three days after the flight arrived in Yemen, Rooters reported that Tehran had asked the Houthi rebels to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the US struck Iranian power infrastructure, posing a new threat to global energy supplies.
On Monday, the group, whose area of control in Yemen overlooks the waterway, announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...in response to the July 13 bombing of Sanaa airport, which they said was carried out by Saudi Arabia.
The moves signaled the end of a four-year truce between Riyadh and the Houthis. Their threat to one of the world’s top maritime trade routes escalated further on Thursday when the group said it had attacked two Saudi oil tankers.
Muammar al-Iryani, information minister in Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, confirmed the transfers of Guards personnel and equipment in a telephone interview with Rooters on Wednesday, citing intelligence.
"Their mission is to strengthen the militias’ military capabilities and prepare them to threaten international maritime security in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait," he said.
Mzahem Alsaloum, a security and intelligence analyst who has tracked the Houthis and other Iranian-backed groups for years, also confirmed the IRGC experts’ arrival on the July 13 flight.
FLIGHT CARRIED MISSILE, DRONE COMPONENTS, ANALYST SAYS
He said some of the cargo included components related to short- and medium-range missiles and drones, weapons systems similar to those previously used in attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
According to Alsaloum, Tehran also sent military advisers to Yemen during a war with Israel last year, routing them through Somalia, a claim that was denied by Tehran.
The Houthis had announced direct flights between Sanaa and Tehran earlier this month, saying the service would help break what they described as a Saudi-imposed blockade on Yemen.
At a presser in Tehran on July 20, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the flight to Sanaa on July 13 was intended to take home a Houthi delegation who had gone to Tehran for the funeral of slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
, as well as Yemeni citizens who had received medical treatment in Iran.
On July 3, the aircraft flew the group of about 200 people, including bigwigs, women and kiddies, to Iran for the funeral. On July 13, the four sources said, the aircraft returned to Yemen carrying members of the delegation as well as the IRGC commanders and advisers. Before it could land in Sanaa, the Saudi-backed government struck the airport, forcing the aircraft to divert to Houthi-controlled Hodeidah.
The Houthi military said the Saudi warplanes that launched the airport attack were forced to leave Yemeni airspace.