Yemen Demands Iran Halt Arming Houthis, Withdraw Military Advisers Amid Escalating Tensions

Yemen’s internationally recognized government demanded Monday that Iran immediately cease arming Houthi militias, withdraw its military experts, and end interference in the country’s internal affairs. In a strongly worded statement, the Aden-based Foreign Ministry accused Tehran of prolonging the conflict and providing diplomatic cover for the group.

The ministry’s statement, posted on X early Monday, condemned an Iranian Foreign Ministry release that accused Saudi Arabia of violating Yemen’s sovereignty and denounced airstrikes on civilian targets. Yemen’s government characterized Tehran’s statement as an attempt to provide “political and media cover for the terrorist Houthi militias” while evading responsibility for deepening the humanitarian crisis.

According to the Yemeni Foreign Ministry, Iranian intervention has evolved beyond financing, arming, and training to direct involvement in planning and managing Houthi military operations. The ministry cited an Interior Ministry announcement that 21 foreign experts are currently working with the Houthis, including 14 from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and seven from Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

These personnel reportedly handle command and control, operational management, ballistic missiles, drones, electronic warfare, military-component smuggling, and coordination of maritime operations—including selecting commercial vessels for attacks. The ministry described their presence as constituting “a fully-fledged general staff” engaged in supervision, planning, and direction of military operations.

“Yemenis pay the price with their lives, their security and their livelihoods,” the statement read. The government accused Tehran of enabling the Houthis to continue abducting, killing, and terrorizing civilians, shelling cities and civilian facilities, and besieging and starving populations. It also cited repeated attacks on Saudi territory, commercial shipping, and maritime navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The diplomatic exchange followed an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement condemning airstrikes on the Al-Hadara public market in Taiz province’s Al-Wazi’iyah district on November 6, as well as attacks on Al-Shariyah village in Bani Hashish district east of Sanaa. Iran reported 33 killed in each incident, including women and children, and condemned the targeting of Al-Masirah television network members.

Tehran described the attacks as violations of international humanitarian law and the UN Charter, calling for an immediate halt to military operations and an end to what it termed the economic and aerial blockade of Yemen. Iran also urged a return to dialogue based on a previously agreed roadmap to resolve the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Yemen’s Foreign Ministry rejected what it called Iran’s exploitation of the Al-Hadara market victims to promote accusations contradicting statements by competent Yemeni authorities, which have called for independent investigations into alleged Houthi violations of human rights and international law.

The Yemeni ministry recalled UN Security Council Resolutions 2216 and 2624, which expanded the arms embargo to include the Houthis as an entity, covering weapons, equipment, technical assistance, training, and financing related to military activities. It urged Tehran to respect regional sovereignty, abandon support for armed groups, and devote resources to improving conditions for its own population rather than financing weapons and smuggling networks.

The statement contrasted Iran’s alleged military assistance to the Houthis with Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian and development support for Yemen and assistance to Yemeni expatriates in the Kingdom. “Throughout twelve years of a war ignited by the Houthi militia with its backing, the Iranian regime has offered the Yemeni people nothing but missiles, suicide drones, explosive-laden boats and experts of destruction,” the ministry said.

It added that Saudi Arabia had provided “invaluable relief, humanitarian and development assistance,” as well as facilities for Yemeni expatriates whose work and remittances help sustain millions. The ministry concluded that respect for Yemen’s sovereignty requires Iran to stop arming the Houthis, withdraw its military experts, and end interference in national decision-making, asserting that Tehran’s professed concern for Yemenis should be reflected in ending support that prolongs suffering and deepens the country’s destruction.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government from the capital and triggering one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.

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