Iran's Role in Yemen: US, EU Go Wobbly
by Majid Rafizadeh • February 6, 2021 at 5:00 am
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)... is a key supporter and sponsor of the Houthis, and has been stepping up its weapons supply to Yemen.... Saudi Arabia, Iran's rival, has been the main target of Iran's supply of weapons to the Houthis.
After the attack on Saudi Arabia's oil installations, Iran's major state-owned newspaper, Kayhan, whose editor is a close adviser of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and was appointed by him, had a front-page headline saying: "The Houthis fired a missile into Riyadh. Dubai is next."
The Houthis, already in 2019, fired a missile at an Abu Dhabi nuclear facility -- an act most likely meant to create mass civilian casualties. Thankfully, the missile fell short.
Even the Iranian leaders have admitted they are helping the Houthis. Influential cleric Mehdi Tayeb said the failed Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi's nuclear facility had been carried out in stages by the IRGC with the support of the navy.
By appeasing the ruling mullahs of Iran, the EU and Biden administration are empowering Tehran regime and its terror group, the Houthis.
More evidence is emerging, including a recent report by the United Nations, showing that that the Iranian regime is delivering sophisticated weapons to the Houthi militia group in Yemen. The Houthi group was designated as a terrorist organization by the previous US administration.
Where are the European Union and the Biden administration on this issue? The Biden administration has suspended some of the terrorism sanctions that the previous administration imposed on the Houthis, and the Biden administration is reviewing the Houthis file to possibly remove it from the terrorist list. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that he has "deep concern about the designation" of the Houthis as a terrorist organization. The EU and Biden administration also appear to be busy charting ways to return to the nuclear deal -- which Iran never signed and which enables Iran ultimately to possess nuclear weapons -- and lift sanctions against the theocratic regime.
