From Iran to Hodeidah… New Tactics and Routes for Smuggling Weapons to the Houthis
Confessions from Houthi smugglers have revealed that Iranian officers have adopted new tactics to smuggle weapons to the militia amid the blockade imposed on Tehran.
The confessions, broadcast by the National Resistance, were given by smugglers Walid Ahmed Futeini Saleel and Abdullah Hussein Dawood Yahya Qumairi. They reveal the alleged supervision by Iranian officers of weapons smuggling operations for the Houthis from Bandar Abbas to Hodeidah through several maritime routes.
Seven Shipments of Missiles and Weapons
Walid Saleel, from the Al-Khokha district in Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate, said he was recruited by a Houthi smuggler named Abd Mohammed Ali Ghabshi to transport weapons from Iran to Somalia and then to Hodeidah in exchange for money.
Saleel said he had smuggled seven shipments of weapons and missiles from inside Iran, in addition to other shipments transported from the Horn of Africa to Hodeidah, before the group was intercepted by the Yemeni National Resistance naval forces in the Red Sea.
The first shipment: Saleel said he travelled with 14 people from the city of Al-Shihr on the Hadramout coast to Iran aboard a dhow called Sultan al-Bahr. Upon arrival, they were allegedly received by an Iranian officer named Hassan and accommodated in a two-storey building for seven days. They were then divided into two groups. One group reportedly departed carrying 16 missiles and weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, along a maritime route toward the waters off Al-Mahra governorate. The cargo was then allegedly transferred to three small cargo vessels and transported to Hodeidah.
The second shipment: Saleel said he returned to Iran, where Iranian officers allegedly hired a large dhow carrying 3,000 gas cylinders of various sizes. The vessel was reportedly transported to the coast of Bosaso in Somalia, while the smugglers said they did not know the actual nature of the cargo.
The third shipment: According to Walid Saleel, a Houthi supervisor named Abu Zaid Hamed from Saada instructed the smuggler Abdu Ghabshi to purchase a vessel called Al-Ostoura in Al-Shihr and travel to Iran. They were allegedly received by the Iranian officer Hassan at Bandar Abbas port, where a shipment consisting of 400 sacks of rifles was prepared. The group was reportedly intercepted by the U.S. Navy at the end of 2022 and handed over to the Yemeni Coast Guard. They were released approximately three months later as part of a prisoner exchange with the Houthis.
The fourth shipment: Saleel said he returned to Iran once again and was received, as usual, by three Iranian officers: Hassan, Mohsen, and Sadegh. After six days, they allegedly informed the group that the shipment was ready. It reportedly consisted of 17 missiles and rifles and was transported to waters off Al-Mahra, where the cargo was transferred to other smugglers aboard small vessels before being transported to Hodeidah.
The fifth shipment: Saleel said he returned to Iran aboard a vessel called Al-Sharif and was received in Bandar Abbas by the Iranian officer Hassan. After 20 days, the group was allegedly informed that the cargo was ready. They reportedly followed a maritime route toward the coast of Oman before the engine broke down. The smugglers said they disposed of the cargo at sea. Five Iranians then allegedly arrived, towed the vessel, repaired it, and loaded it with around 16 missiles and 250 sacks of rifles. The group then travelled along a maritime route toward the Arabian Sea, where the cargo was transferred to three vessels and transported to Hodeidah.
The sixth shipment: Saleel said the group travelled to Al-Shihr and departed for Iran aboard a small vessel. A dhow was allegedly loaded with 400 rifles, which were then smuggled into Somalia, specifically the Bandar Beyla area. Their local agent, identified as Ali Sawahli, reportedly arranged for their subsequent transfer to Hodeidah.
The seventh shipment: It allegedly included 16 missiles and 380 sacks of rifles. According to Saleel, the weapons were smuggled into the Arabian Sea, where the cargo was transferred to three vessels belonging to other smugglers before being transported to Hodeidah.
Saleel also said that upon arrival in Iran, a Houthi leader named Abu Yahya, from Saada, coordinated with the Iranians, who were responsible for preparing the shipments.
From the Houthi Navy to Weapons Smuggling
Abdullah Qumairi, from Al-Khokha in Hodeidah governorate and a resident of the Ghalil neighbourhood, Block 18, said that a man named Ismail Hanjala, known as Abu Abdulrahman, recruited him to work with the Houthi naval forces.
He said he worked with a leader named Zakaria Al-Sharafi repairing boat engines in Al-Arj, in Bajil, and along the coast of Al-Luhayyah, before being appointed training officer for the Sixth Naval Brigade, commanded by Abu Samoud.
Qumairi said he left the Houthi navy because of deductions from his salary and later moved into smuggling through a leader named Ahmed Halis, who instructed him to travel to Al-Mahra and then to Iran via the coast of Saihut.
He said that upon arriving at Chabahar Port, he met three Iranians named Mohsen, Amir, and Sadegh. They allegedly transported the group aboard a Revolutionary Guard vessel to Bandar Abbas, where he met the Houthi leader Abu Yahya to prepare the shipment.
According to Qumairi, the group used a new maritime route to avoid the U.S. Navy and transferred the cargo in the Arabian Sea to two vessels carrying masked smugglers.
He added that the Houthi leader Halis later instructed him to return to Iran after new passports had been prepared for the group to smuggle a second shipment. They reportedly travelled through the Sarfait border crossing in Al-Mahra and then flew to Iran, where they followed the same tactics to transport the second shipment.
The National Resistance had previously intercepted a vessel carrying Saleel and Qumairi, along with a shipment of drones originating from the Horn of Africa and destined for Hodeidah, in the Red Sea.
