Iran provides Houthis with anti-ship ballistic missile: IRGC media

Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), reported on Wednesday that Iran has supplied the Houthi rebels in Yemen with the Ghadr ballistic missile.

The missile, described as the first Iranian anti-ship ballistic missile, is now in the hands of Yemeni fighters, enhancing their capability to target maritime vessels. The revelation is significant as it confirms that Tehran has been arming its proxy forces in Yemen with advanced ballistic missiles. This follows a pattern of Iran's military support to its allies in the region, further destabilizing the Middle East.

Tasnim's report also highlighted the history of the anti-ship ballistic missile's development, pointing out that Iran needs to be able to threaten US and other foreign navies in the broader Middle East.

In March, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps accused Iran of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine, highlighting Tehran's expanding role in global conflicts. Since November, the Houthis have been using Iranian-supplied missiles and drones to attack commercial ships in the Red Sea, a critical global trade route. The attacks were initially a response to the Israeli military offensive in Gaza but have since severely disrupted maritime trade in the region.

The Houthi campaign in the Red Sea began after Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Muslim nations to blockade Israeli trade.

Iranian spy ships behind the Houthi's deadly attacks on vessels
Over the past few days, the Yemeni Houthis have increased their attacks on ships sailing in the Red Sea.

However, the Houthis' largest attack on an international waterway occurred on Saturday, when the US military revealed the downing of 32 drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthis at targets in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Which put the spotlight back on Iran's indirect role in these attacks.
The Yemeni Minister of Information, Muammar al-Ariani, confirmed yesterday evening that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) established a sea and land bridge to provide the Houthis with precision weapons that it uses in its attacks in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden, through special smuggling networks that use ships.

A former U.S. Army officer said the precision strikes by the Houthis indicated a possible Iranian role.

David de Roches, a former U.S. Army colonel and also a lecturer at the Center for Strategic Studies for the Near East and South Asia at the National Defense University in Washington, hinted at a possible role of The Iranian ship "Bashad" in an attack a few days ago on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, according to the Arab World News Agency. "In my estimation and everyone's estimation, the Iranian intelligence ship - "Bahshad" provides attack data to the Houthi missiles and this is what makes them accurate and deadly" - he added.

[BREAKING] Houthis attack U.S. ship with unmanned underwater drone

The U.S. Navy announces that the Houthis have for the first time tried to attack U.S. vessels in the Red Sea with an unmanned underwater drone (UUV).
The drone was spotted and destroyed before it got anywhere close to the ships. The name behind this attack is Houthi. The hands that made the weapon and gave the coordinates and orders were Iranian IRGC.

CENTCOM Statement on U.S. Strikes in #Iraq and #Syria

At 4:00 p.m. (EST) Feb. 02, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.

U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States. The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions.

The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storage, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces.

IRGC commander-in-chief vows to counter U.S. threats

Iran’s adversaries have unleashed a war against the country but Tehran stands firm and will not allow US threats to go unanswered, General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said.

"Our enemies have unleashed an economic and psychological war against the people of Iran, threatening the country's security. Today, we hear threats in statements by US officials. You know that we will not leave a single threat unanswered," the Tasnim news agency quoted the general as saying.

Tehran is not looking for war but reserves the right to respond to damage done to its interests, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Dehghan said, commenting on threats from U.S. officials.

"Our message to the US, Israel and all their allies is that we aren’t looking for war. However, if our enemies are stupid and seek to damage Iran’s interests, our hands won’t be tied to protect ourselves," Dehghan stated in an interview with Iran’s Jamaran news agency. According to him, "the US position is not clear to the US itself, which means that the threats aren’t clear as well." He added that "Iran is a strong power" that "does not seek escalation."

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard deployed in Yemen

🔶️ The IRGC has stationed missile and drone trainers and operators in Yemen, as well as personnel providing tactical intelligence support to the Houthis, U.S. and Middle East officials told Semafor. The IRGC, through its overseas Qods Force, has also overseen the transfer to the Houthis of the attack drones, cruise missiles, and medium-range ballistic missiles used in a string of strikes on Red Sea and Israeli targets in recent weeks, these officials said.

🔶️ The Houthis say that its military operations are designed to aid the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, which has been locked in a three-month war with Israel. On Monday, the Pentagon said the Houthis struck a U.S.-owned and -operated container vessel, the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, in the Red Sea, but caused no significant damage. The Houthis fired a second anti-ship ballistic missile into the southern Red Sea, the U.S. Central Command said, but it “failed in flight and impacted on land in Yemen.”

🔶️ The IRGC’s overall presence inside Yemen is overseen by Gen. Abdul Reza Shahlai, a Tehran-based commander whom the Trump administration attempted to assassinate in a 2020 drone strike inside Yemen, U.S. and Mideast officials said. American intelligence believes Shahlai is deeply involved in Tehran’s overseas terrorist operations through his role as the Qods Force’s deputy commander.

🔶️ This includes a role in overseeing an unsuccessful 2011 Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s then-ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir, at a Washington, D.C. restaurant. Shahlai, who’s been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, also helped oversee IRGC attacks against U.S. military personnel in Iraq over the past two decades. The Department of Justice offered $15 million in 2019 for information related to the commander’s operations and networks.

🔶️ Last month, the White House declassified some information related to Iran’s backing of the Houthis, including the intelligence and targeting support. But it didn’t reference the IRGC’s on-ground presence in Yemen, or Shahlai’s role in the Houthis’ operations.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy Unveils New Warship

According to local reports, the Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis boasts advanced radar-evading technologies, a 14-day naval endurance, and a 2,000 nautical-mile radius.

In a ceremony held on Saturday in Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas, The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy unveiled a new batch of military equipment and systems, including a new domestically manufactured warship.

The Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is a corvette-type vessel with a catamaran design which, according to Iran, has advanced radar-evading technologies, a 14-day naval endurance, and a 2,000 nautical-mile radius. The vessel is named after the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units who was assassinated alongside Quds Force commander Quasem Suleimani in a 2020 US drone strike.

Hezbollah’s media outlet Al Mayadeen reports that the IRGC Navy chief, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, said during the ceremony that the corvette is akin to a “mobile maritime city.” According to Colton Jones on Defense Blog, analysts have identified several weapon systems, including 30mm and 20mm cannons, lightweight torpedoes, and six box launchers which can presumably house C802 anti-ship missiles.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claim they can shut down the Strait of Gibraltar, which links the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

🔶️ “They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways,” Tasnim quoted Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, coordinating commander of the Guards, as saying.

🔶️ Iran has no direct access to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guards could attempt to close it off, although Naqdi talked of “the birth of new powers of resistance and the closure of other waterways.”

🔶️ “Yesterday, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz became a nightmare for them, and today they are trapped … in the Red Sea,” Naqdi was quoted as saying.

U.S. Military Activity & Presence in the Middle East

57 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq & Syria by IRGC & Iranian-affiliated militia groups