Two Houthi-affiliated military sources said on Saturday that experts from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had visited the Bab al-Mandab area to study the installation of radars near the maritime passage, as well as oversee tunnel excavation in the mountainous hills overlooking the area.
Experts’ visits and sites of field activity
The sources said the Iranian experts working with the Houthis inspected several sites, including the Bab al-Mandab area, Mokha port and its airport, as well as the Jabal al-Nar camp east of Mokha. According to their account, the experts arrived in the area from Hudaydah and made separate visits on Thursday and Friday. The sources added that the experts oversaw tunnel excavation inside the mountainous hills overlooking Mokha and Bab al-Mandab.
They also discussed arrangements to install radars at sites near Mokha and others on Zugar Island in the southern Red Sea. According to Yemeni government sources, these movements coincided with intensified fighting between the Houthis and government forces around the Kahboub Mountains, which overlook Bab al-Mandab.
The clashes place the coastal area and the mountainous sites overlooking the maritime passage within the scope of the ongoing military escalation between the two sides. This comes as Yemen’s conflict has undergone sharp escalation since July, against the backdrop of the war between Iran and the United States in the Middle East.
The latest field developments link the fighting around the Kahboub Mountains to the movements attributed to the Iranian experts in Bab al-Mandab, Mokha and Zugar Island, according to accounts from Yemeni military and government sources.
