By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2024-04-05

ADEN -- Houthi leaders and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders have held several meetings to discuss the Houthis' operations on the ground in Yemen and orchestrate the escalation in the Red Sea, sources say.

These actions threaten to torpedo any attempts to bring peace to Yemen.

A secret meeting was recently held in al-Hodeidah between Houthi and IRGC officers to discuss a military escalation plan that Iran intends to implement in the Red Sea and regional waterways, Khabar Agency reported March 24.

Before this, the Houthis' so-called "general supervisor of the naval forces," Mansour Ahmed al-Saadi (aka Abu Sajjad), convened a series of meetings with IRGC officers, in which fishermen were recruited for military missions at sea.

The Houthis are recruiting fishermen to carry out their attacks at sea, and to engage in clashes with ships, as a sort of human shield for their own fighters, the agency said.

The tasks assigned to these operatives include monitoring and photographing the movement of military and commercial vessels, Khabar Agency said.

Photographs and other information about the vessels are sent directly to a joint operations room affiliated with the Houthis, sources told the agency.

The Houthis transported the fishermen they recruited to Kamaran Island, where the Iran-backed group has established a naval presence.

On the island, the recruits were taught how to lay sea mines and how to rig unmanned surface vessels with explosives and launch them.

Abu Sajjad is directly responsible for the Houthis' naval operations, which are carried out under the supervision of IRGC commanders with whom he has a longstanding relationship, the agency said.

Abu Sajjad was among the first to receive the training that IRGC experts provided to Houthi elements in camps in Tehran, and attended military courses organized by Lebanese Hizbullah in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

Abu Sajjad: one of Iran's tools

In March 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on al-Saadi, who "has masterminded lethal attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea," according to the US Treasury.

It accused him of commanding forces that have "repeatedly dispersed naval mines, which strike vessels irrespective of their civilian or military character."

Al-Saadi also has helped smuggle Iranian weapons into Yemen, the Treasury said.

The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on him in September 2022.

"Al-Saadi is the leader of the military operations against cargo ships," political analyst Faisal Ahmed told Al-Fassel.

He is accused of hijacking the vessel Rawabi and carrying out maritime piracy operations in the Red Sea, Ahmed said.

"This [recent] meeting with the IRGC experts is a continuation of the implementation of their terrorist operations in the Red Sea" and other regional waterways, he added, in blatant disregard for the interests of the Yemeni people.

"The Houthis are implementing what Iran plans and schemes, and al-Saadi is one of Iran's tools," he said, pointing out that he was trained "by IRGC experts in Iran and Hizbullah experts in Lebanon."

Iranian spy ship in Red Sea

"Many reports have confirmed that the Houthis' capabilities are not up to the task of monitoring ships and directing strikes at them," Deputy Minister of Justice Faisal al-Majeedi told Al-Fassel.

This indicates that a state intelligence unit is operating behind the scenes in coordination with the Houthis, "and this description fits Iran," he said.

"The presence of Iranian experts in Houthi-controlled areas is not a secret," al-Majeedi said, noting that the Iranian spy ship in the Red Sea is known to be providing the Houthis with information about ship owners and their destinations.

"Peace is the last thing the Houthis think of, and they are ready to blow up the situation at any moment on land and at sea because they cannot live except in the shadow of war," he added.

"The Houthis are nothing but foot soldiers under the banner of the IRGC and the Iranian project," academic and political analyst Fares al-Beel told Al-Fassel. "Supervising and planning the operations are IRGC experts."

"We can say that Yemen has become a conduit for the Iranian strategy project."