By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-08-15

ADEN -- Crew confessions from a weapons vessel seized in June, along with the recent capture of Chinese drone parts at Aden port, expose how the Houthis exploit international smuggling routes to fuel Yemen's conflict, undermine national sovereignty, and worsen the humanitarian crisis, experts told Al-Fassel.

The seven-member crew of the seized vessel "Al-Sharwa" detailed three main Iranian weapons smuggling routes to the Houthis in videotaped confessions aired on Al-Jumhuriyah channel, the Yemeni National Resistance Forces (NRF) said on August 9.

These routes are direct shipments from Iran's Bandar Abbas port to Yemen's Salif, shipments by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) via vessels to the Somali coast, and IRGC transfers to Djibouti disguised as commercial cargo.

Al-Sharwa, which was carrying 750 tons of munitions, reportedly took the third route.

The NRF said crew members dismissed Houthi assertions of producing weapons locally, stating they had come to understand that all the arms originated from Iran.

Four members revealed they were trained by IRGC specialists in Tehran before participating in multiple weapons-smuggling operations, including shipments containing chemical materials used for rocket and explosive manufacturing.

In a separate incident, an August 2 seizure at Aden port uncovered weapons shipments originating from China.

Yemen's Counter-Terrorism Service said containers carrying military-grade drones, advanced control units, wireless communication devices, and spare parts had arrived on a commercial ship diverted from the bombed al-Hodeidah port.

"Inspection results confirmed that al-Hodeidah is being used as a smuggling corridor for the Houthi militia, part of a systematic network to bring in weapons and advanced equipment," the service said.

Iran's war project

"Iranian interventions in Yemen, including the transfer of weapons to the Houthis who rebelled against the State and the national consensus, represent a violation of Yemeni sovereignty and worsen the internal conflict in the country," political analyst Waddah al-Jalil told Al-Fassel.

The shipments undermine any possibility of reconciliation or reviving peace efforts, he explained.

"The Iranian project in the region depends on ongoing conflicts in countries like Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon," al-Jalil said.

"Iran seems to be trying to make up for its losses in Lebanon and Syria by expanding its influence in Yemen, which is why large shipments of weapons are being sent to the Houthis."

The regime has supplied the Houthis with advanced arms to make them Yemen’s strongest force and to act as a deterrent supporting its interests, Yemen's Deputy Justice Minister Faisal al-Majeedi told Al-Fassel.

"The Houthis act only under direct orders from the IRGC," he added.

Their smuggling network diverts resources from essential state functions, worsening citizens' suffering and pushing roughly 80 percent of the population into poverty, al-Majeedi said.

"The weapons supply aims to prolong the conflict and block the return of stability and peace, because the Houthis are essentially a war project," he concluded.