By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-09-12

ADEN -- The Iranian regime's transfer of toxic chemicals and weapons expertise to the Houthis has triggered urgent warnings from Yemeni officials and analysts, who say the move risks turning the country into a testing ground for banned weapons and destabilizing the wider region.

Yemen's Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani directly accused the Houthis of building chemical weapons facilities with Iran's support, telling The National on September 4 that factories have been established "under the direct supervision and management of Iranian experts."

According to al-Eryani, Tehran has smuggled toxic gases and precursor materials into Houthi-controlled areas in batches, and intelligence shows the militia has begun adapting them for use in ballistic missiles and drones.

He warned of "an Iranian plot to turn Yemeni territory into secret laboratories for producing and testing toxic, chemical and biological agents."

Two sources close to the Yemeni government confirmed that a confidential report delivered to the presidency identified suspected Houthi chemical weapons sites, The National reported.

They said at least one shipment of precursors successfully entered Yemen this year.

Yemeni forces also intercepted a separate arms consignment last month, during which smugglers admitted to earlier attempts to transport chemical precursors and banned components.

Regional impact

Analyst Abdul Salam Mohammed, director of the Abaad Center for Strategic Studies, said Iran is relocating dangerous industries from Syria to Yemen, including chemical and biological capabilities as well as drug production.

The Houthis have also received materials from Assad regime laboratories, he told Al-Fassel.

Iran, he warned, is attempting to build a "strategic alternative to Syria" by turning Yemen into a hub for prohibited weapons.

Yemen's Deputy Justice Minister Faisal al-Majeedi described Tehran's new role as a "clear violation" of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

He called it a "catastrophic development" that exposes the Iranian regime as a state sponsor of terrorism intent on destabilizing the region.

The weapons, he said, pose a direct threat to international security, endanger civilian lives and jeopardize critical maritime routes through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb.

Political analyst Faisal Ahmed underlined that Iran's actions breach UNSC Resolution 2216, which imposes an arms embargo on the Houthis.

He said weaponizing chemical substances would amount to a war crime under international law, and stressed that the Rome Statute could apply to Yemen if referred by the UNSC.

Ahmed further warned that Houthi cooperation with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) could give terrorist groups access to such weapons, recalling how the group managed to obtain drones in the past.

Minister al-Eryani urged the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and international bodies to intervene immediately.

Failure to act, he warned, would turn Yemen into a "backroom workshop for prohibited programs and a permanent launchpad for Iranian terrorism."