“Iran is a supplier of the Houthi and has provided equipment and training and expertise to other proxy organizations in the region,” a senior U.S. defense official said late Monday. “We have communicated…that we consider that activity to be unacceptable.” A spokesman for Iran’s delegation at the United Nations in New York didn’t return a request for comment.
Iran’s assistance to the Houthis is handled by some of the most elite officers in the Revolutionary Guard. The head of Tehran’s operations in the country is Abdolreza Shahlai, who once oversaw attacks on U.S. soldiers in Iraq, the Western security advisers and officials said. He is now wanted by Washington with a $15 million bounty.
The Western security advisers and officials said that the transfer of ballistic-missile technologies and training is overseen by Unit 340, which trained Houthi personnel in Iran and Lebanon and is led by Hamid Fazeli, a former head of Iran’s space-rocket program.
The Houthis have at least on one occasion used a missile that was later found in Iran’s arsenal, representing the first known instance of proxy-to-patron ballistic missile proliferation, he said.
“There is evidence to suggest that Yemen is an important battleground for Iranian weapons testing, and potential development,” he said “Iran has both an arsenal at home and an arsenal in exile.”
@IcecreamChuckRepublican12mos12MO
The Biden Administration should turn Iran’s perceived safety of hiding behind terrorist proxies on its head by taking a page out of Ronald Reagan’s playbook from 1988.
After the US responded to Iranian attacks on civilian shipping with Operation Praying Mantis, Iran avoided any direct conflict with the U.S. for decades and built its network of terrorist group proxies as a way to attack the US without being held directly accountable.
That paradigm can be broken rather quickly by directly holding Iran accountable for the aggression of its terror group proxies. If Iran lost 1/2 of its military production capacity in air strikes or its air force wiped out, for example, the costs of Iranian aggression, whether direct or indirect, would be too much to tolerate.
@PanickyEagleConstitution12mos12MO
Despite our feeble and half-hearted "counterattacks" (limited to its proxies), Iran still continues attack us. Huh? Who would have guessed it? Maybe Biden can send them some more money, or better yet, have Hunter and Jim broker a deal?
@SyrupMartyRepublican12mos12MO
The Nazis tested their latest weaponry in the Spanish Civil War. The Iranians are doing it here. Perhaps Iran should be put on notice there will be consequences for these actions. I'm sure the Israelis would help out.
@BoaJohnnyLibertarian12mos12MO
Israelis can’t even help themselves beyond Gaza. US and Israel have tried to put Iran on the notice for the last 40 years and no luck.
@VibrantLeftistGreen12mos12MO
Those poor Houthi's, no dentist, no health care, little food, no jobs, horrible existence. No wonder they are fighting.
@SyrupMartyRepublican12mos12MO
Unless these Houthi Terrorists in Yemen are completely crushed and mixed with the sand they stand on international shipping and commerce plying the Red Sea will slowly dry up. Do the job right of flattening them with no quarter. Iran is watching what kind of will the allies have facing these 14th century rebels with Iranian 21st. Century weapons. Get this clean up done and the next clean up is Iran.
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