How Iran directs Houthis in US war

IRAN has been directing the Houthis war with the US in Yemen with its generals planning strikes on ships in the Red Sea, according to regional experts.

- By Marco Giannangeli Diplomatic Editor

With the demise of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Yemen’s Ansar Allah — better known as the Houthis — now represent Tehran’s last effective weapon against US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy.

Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei defiantly denied the Houthis were his proxy following last weekend’s US air strikes on Yemen.

But intelligence from opposition group Pmoi-Mek showed this is far from true.

‘A sophisticated arsenal of missiles’

Considered a motley militia until Yemen’s 2014 Civil War, the Houthis now command a sophisticated arsenal of hypersonic anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, aerial and maritime Kamikaze drones and guidance systems.