Iran Transfers IRGC Commanders and Missile Equipment to Yemen's Houthis

July 23 (Reuters) – Iran flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen this month, according to four sources, in a move that suggests Tehran is seeking to strengthen the ability of its Houthi 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.

The two Iranian sources told Reuters 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 Hodeidah 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 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.

There was no immediate response to requests for comment sent to two Houthi officials. The group has previously denied being an Iranian proxy and has said it develops its own weapons.

Three days after the flight arrived in Yemen, Reuters reported that Tehran had asked the Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the U.S. 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 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.

Moammar al-Iryani, information minister in Yemen's Saudi-backed government, confirmed the transfers of Guards personnel and equipment in a telephone interview with Reuters 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.

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 press conference in Tehran on July 20, 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 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 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 senior officials, women and children, 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.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by William Maclean)

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This article contains reporting from Reuters, published under license.