FIRST ON FOX: Following a year marked by significant setbacks in the Middle East, particularly for Iran and its proxy forces in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria, Tehran is increasingly relying on its influence over the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen to advance its offensive objectives.
According to findings from sources connected to Tehran, affiliated with the Iranian resistance group known as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, not only are senior military officials from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) involved in Houthi decision-making processes, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also has significant oversight over the group.
Recent threats from President Donald Trump against Tehran regarding its support for the Houthis are corroborated by this report, which indicates that a senior commander in the IRGC’s elite Quds Force is “directly commanding Houthi operations.”
The report, compiled by the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and first shared with Fox News Digital, states that Khamenei personally oversees all Houthi “political and military affairs,” with each action requiring his regime’s approval.
The report asserts, “According to information from the IRGC, Khamenei has stressed the significance of Houthi attacks and the need to supply weapons and equipment to the Houthis through IRGC commanders and regime officials.”
As the ‘Axis of Resistance’ faces weakening amid the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, Israeli actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and instability in Syria, Tehran’s reliance on proxies in Iraq and Yemen has become more pronounced.
Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Houthi forces have conducted over 100 attacks on commercial shipping vessels, triggering responses from surrounding terrorist networks, including Hezbollah.
The exchange of missile and drone fire between the Houthis and U.S. forces intensified this week as the terrorist group threatened renewed strikes on Israeli vessels following Jerusalem’s suspension of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
President Trump has vowed to respond with “overwhelming lethal force” until the Houthi attacks cease and warned Iran it would be held “fully accountable” for any assaults.
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The report highlights that “[IRGC Brig. Gen. Abdolreza] Shahlai oversees all military, political, and economic aspects of the regime’s involvement in Yemen, including all Houthi operations and attacks,” noting his connections to the late Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. strike in Iraq in 2020.
Additionally, the report concludes that the Iranian Embassy in Yemen is under the “full control” of the Quds Force.
While it is not uncommon for intelligence operatives to operate out of embassies, the report found no evidence of personnel from Iran’s Foreign Ministry being present at its embassy in Yemen.
The Iranian Embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.
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According to Ali Safavi, a member of the NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee, “The mullahs’ regime is the root cause of war and instability in the region, maintained through domestic repression and the export of terrorism abroad. The only viable solution to the Iranian crisis is the regime’s overthrow by the Iranian people.”
He further stated, “A decisive international policy toward Iran must recognize and support the legitimacy of the Iranian resistance, label the IRGC as a terrorist entity, invoke the U.N. Security Council snapback mechanism, and endorse the Resistance Units’ efforts against the regime.”
