By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2024-03-09

ADEN -- With its efforts to establish a free economic zone in Yemen's Red Sea port of Ras Issa in al-Hodeidah province, Iran aims to cement its presence on the key waterway, researchers in Yemen told Al-Fassel.

The prospective economic zone -- which Iran regards as a reward for its support of the Houthis -- would boost the Islamic Republic's presence in one of the most critical waterways for global trade, a Sheba Intelligence investigation revealed.

It would further trade exchanges with Iran and offer easy access to Iranian oil and goods, which could potentially be re-exported from Yemen, it said.

The Iranians and the Houthis reportedly agreed to the plan in Tehran in July 2022, and Iranian companies have been present in al-Hodeidah and the Ras Issa area since last June to implement the plan.

Iranian companies have completed engineering plans for the area that include the construction of piers, buildings and warehouses, as well as six tanks to store Iranian oil shipments, trade sources said.

The plan is being implemented by the Houthi-affiliated Mohsen Brothers group, they said, which is owned by merchant Ali Mohsen al-Hadi, who heads up the Houthis' chamber of commerce and industry.

An outlet on the Red Sea

"Iran has wanted an outlet on the Red Sea, not just now but for years," Abaad Center for Strategic Studies director Abdul Salam Mohammed told Al-Fassel.

In 2008, the Iranians tried, without success, to gain a foothold in the port of Midi, in the northernmost part of Yemen near Saudi Arabia, he said.

"The port of Ras Issa is the alternative, and they have drawn up engineering plans, and work on it has already started, according to the Sheba report," he added.

By establishing its presence in a Red Sea port, Iran aims to "fully control the sea," he said, noting that a presence in Ras Issa would enable it to facilitate the delivery of weapons and contraband.

It also would further Iranian influence in the Horn of Africa, he said.

Iran's military agenda

Iran's effort to establish an economic zone in Ras Issa is part of "a hidden military agenda and goals to control the Red Sea and international shipping lanes," said Yemeni Deputy Minister of Justice Faisal al-Majeedi.

Iran has already established a military zone on the Yemeni island of Kamaran off al-Hodeidah and it wants to obtain an economic port to implement its military agenda, political analyst Mahmoud al-Taher told Al-Fassel.

This includes gaining control over Bab al-Mandeb, he said.

"We find that Iran is fighting hard to keep the Houthis in al-Hodeidah as part of the military and economic strategic plans that it is preparing to control the international shipping lane," he added.

To this end, al-Taher said, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had prepared for the Houthis' ongoing attacks in the Red Sea in advance.

"The Houthis' operation rooms are run by the IRGC," he said.