By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-05-29

ADEN -- Following the successful targeting of Hizbullah's telecom network, the Houthis have sought to shore up their own communications systems in Yemen in order to plan attacks in secrecy and avoid becoming targets themselves.

They have tried to reduce their reliance on traditional communications infrastructure, while ensuring connectivity with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other axis groups, Defense Line reported in October.

The task of updating and strengthening the group's internal communications network was assigned to the Houthis' so called Jihadist Communications Department, headed by Mohammed Nasser Ahmed Musaed (aka Abu Issam).

The Houthis have been deeply focused on securing their own communications network, Yemeni journalist Ahmed Shabah told Al-Fassel.

They regard this as "a vital nerve center for managing covert operations and activities and protecting the group from intelligence infiltration," he said.

The IRGC and its Quds Force have played a crucial role in "developing internal Houthi communications," Shabah noted.

"Iranian and Hizbullah experts and advisors oversaw the organization of a Houthi communications and technical system, with Iranian support," he said.

Private communications network

The Jihadist Communications Department oversees a private communications network that connects the Houthis' various branches and nodes, Shabah said.

"The group considers communications a strategic pillar and a cornerstone of its military capabilities," he said. "It maintains its own assets and network as an independent system."

In this, the Houthis have copied the tactics of other Iranian proxies, especially Hizbullah, Shabah said.

But after the deadly attack on Hizbullah's telecommunications, the group has moved toward "diversifying its communications assets and localizing multi-origin technologies," he added.

The Houthis' attacks on international shipping lanes have drawn foreign military intervention, Shabah said, with strikes targeting the group's communications infrastructure.

This has caused devastating damage to hard assets and degraded the group's communications network and systems, he said.

Houthis' links to Iranian axis

Musaed "is one of the Houthis' most prominent technical and military figures," Fahmi al-Zubairi, director general of the human rights office in Sanaa, told Al-Fassel.

His responsibilities include "modernizing the communications infrastructure, encrypting communication channels, and coordinating technical efforts with experts from Iran and Hizbullah, he said.

This "jihadist communications circle" is an example of the close link between the Houthis and the Iranian axis, he said.

It is "evidence that these militias do not operate in isolation, but are rather managed within a regional network seeking to expand its influence in Yemen."

The US State Department's Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the Houthis.

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