IRGC Deploys and Fortifies Bab al-Mandab!

Marib (Yemen) – Agencies: The Houthi group has begun fortifying military positions on hills overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait and the city of Al-Mukha, amid reports that experts from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah are participating in the offensive and operating missiles and drones. Yemeni sources told Sky News that the Houthis have started establishing military positions on the peaks of hills overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait and Al-Mukha city, following their control of the area. The sources explained that the Houthis are focusing on carving out roads leading to these hills, in preparation for transporting and storing weapons and equipment in mountainous sites in readiness for military operations.

In a related development, Yemeni intelligence sources stated that experts from the IRGC and Hezbollah elements actively participated in the recent Houthi offensive, which ended with the group seizing control of Yemen’s western coast and the Bab al-Mandab strait. The sources added that IRGC experts and Hezbollah members played a key role in operating missiles and drones, carrying out launch operations targeting government forces’ positions. According to the sources, IRGC experts oversee part of the Houthis’ missile force, from manufacturing processes in production workshops to the execution of launch operations.

In its first statement since losing extensive positions on Yemen’s western coast, the government-aligned “National Resistance” revealed the cost of the battles it fought against the Houthis over the course of a month, accusing Iran, through the IRGC and its regional allies, of providing direct support and managing the offensive that ended with the group’s control over wide areas along the coast. The “National Resistance” forces, led by Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council member Tareq Saleh, announced that more than 500 of their members were killed and approximately 1,500 others injured, compared to more than 1,000 Houthi fighters killed and thousands wounded, according to its statement covering the battles that lasted from August 9 to September 10.

Linking the IRGC’s role: Yemen’s “National Resistance” forces on the western coast linked the nature of the offensive and the Houthis’ ability to mobilize troops and execute simultaneous operations to what it described as direct support from IRGC elements and expertise, along with their regional allies. It stated that the offensive was pre-planned to exploit the terrain’s characteristics and establish fire control over several commanding heights, attempting to encircle government forces and destroy their combat capabilities. It considered that the course of the battles revealed, in its assessment, the nature of the Iranian role in supporting the Houthis, accusing the group of implementing a project targeting Arab national security and international waterways.

The “National Resistance” viewed the events as confirming the need for integrating and synchronizing anti-Houthi fronts, rather than relying on a single military sector, in order to regain the initiative and impose a new military reality. In an attempt to avoid assigning blame to Yemeni parties for the loss, the statement emphasized that the Resistance is not considering “accusing anyone of treason” or engaging in “settling scores or political posturing,” calling for an objective reading of developments, drawing lessons, and reorganizing strategies for the upcoming phase. The National Resistance affirmed its continued presence within the armed forces in confronting the Houthis, stressing that the loss of a battle “is not the end of the road,” and that it will continue fighting alongside other forces opposing the group.