Iran Meddling in Yemen, Says Security Officials
Yemen security sources at the port of Hodaida, west of the capital, Sana’a, revealed to bikyamasr.com that following reports from the Yemeni Intelligence Services, the country’s seaport authorities had intercepted an Iranian ship loaded with weapons they believed was to be delivered to the al-Houthis fighters.
Al-Houthis, a group of Shia dissidents, who for years have been refusing to recognize the central government’s authority, calling for the re-establishment of the rule of the Imam and a return to a Shia Islamic-based governing system similar to that of Iran and its Ayatollahs, has been for the past few months using the civil unrest in Yemen to resume its territorial campaign, extending its hold in the northern territories to three provinces, Sa’ada, al-Jawf and Hajjah.
Despite some fierce resistance from Salafists, a group of Sunni Islamic hard-liners supported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, al-Houthis have been gaining much ground, prompting Riyadh to raise the alarm with Sana’a, and to warn the international community that Iran was using al-Houthis to promote a war by proxy against the Kingdom.