Iran transported Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, military advisers, and equipment linked to missiles and drones into Yemen earlier this month, according to four sources with knowledge of the matter — a move that appears designed to enhance the Houthi movement’s capacity to threaten shipping in the Red Sea.
The sources — two of whom are Iranian, one being Yemen’s information minister, and the fourth a regional security analyst — say the personnel and equipment arrived aboard a flight from Tehran on July 13. This development had not been previously made public.
The two Iranian sources, speaking anonymously due to security concerns, told Reuters that between 10 and 21 IRGC personnel were aboard the Mahan Air flight, among them senior commanders.
The aircraft was originally headed to Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital, but was rerouted to the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah after the Sanaa airport was attacked by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
One source explained the purpose of the mission: “The IRGC commanders travelled there to support Houthi operations and provide training on new missile systems.” That same source added that gold was also transported on the flight to help finance Houthi activities.
The transfer adds to a growing body of evidence that Iran is working to strengthen the Houthis, who have been locked in a civil war against the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed Yemeni government for over a decade and have launched missile and drone strikes against neighboring Gulf states.
Iran’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Tehran has consistently denied supplying the Houthis with missile technology.
A Houthi media official, Abdel Rahman al-Ahnomi, who said he was on the plane, dismissed the claims as “lies and fabrications,” insisting that everyone aboard was a civilian. The Houthis have long denied being an Iranian proxy and maintain they build their own weapons.
Just three days after the flight landed in Yemen, Reuters reported that Tehran had urged the Houthis to be prepared to shut down the Red Sea oil corridor if the United States were to strike Iranian power infrastructure — a potential blow to global energy markets.
On Monday, the Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, citing the July 13 bombing of Sanaa airport, which they attributed to Saudi Arabia. The announcement signaled the collapse of a four-year ceasefire between the two sides. The situation escalated further on Thursday when the group claimed it had struck two Saudi oil tankers.
Moammar al-Iryani, the information minister in Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, confirmed the arrival of IRGC personnel and equipment in a phone interview on Wednesday, citing intelligence reports. “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.
Security and intelligence analyst Mzahem Alsaloum, who has monitored the Houthis and other Iran-backed groups for years, also confirmed that IRGC experts were aboard the July 13 flight. He said part of the cargo consisted of components for short- and medium-range missiles and drones — similar to weapons previously used in attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Alsaloum also noted that Tehran had previously sent military advisers to Yemen during a conflict with Israel last year, routing them through Somalia — a claim Iran denied at the time.
Earlier this month, the Houthis had announced the launch of direct flights between Sanaa and Tehran, framing the service as a way to counter what they called a Saudi-imposed blockade on Yemen.
At a press conference in Tehran on July 20, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson offered a different explanation for the July 13 flight. He said the plane was returning a Houthi delegation that had traveled to Iran for the funeral of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with Yemeni patients who had received medical care in Iran.
On July 3, roughly 200 people — including senior officials, women, and children — flew to Iran for the funeral. When the plane returned on July 13, the four sources say, it carried both members of that delegation and the IRGC commanders and advisers. Before the aircraft could land in Sanaa, the Saudi-backed government struck the airport, forcing a diversion to Houthi-held Hodeidah.
The Houthi military claimed the Saudi warplanes involved in the airport strike were driven out of Yemeni airspace.
