Iran pushes threats from Yemen to Lebanon

Iran continues to push its proxies to increase their threats from Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Houthis in Yemen. A new report on 60 Minutes, for instance, includes statements by the commander of the US 5th Fleet that Iran is actively advising the Houthis in their attacks.

US Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper confirmed to 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O’Donnell “that members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps are on the ground in Yemen ‘serving side-by-side’ with the rebel group and providing advice and target information,” the report said.

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen carried out an attack on the ship Pollux on Saturday. In addition on February 15 US Central Command said “at approximately 4:30 p.m., an anti-ship ballistic missile was launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Gulf of Aden.

The missile was headed toward MV Lycavitos, a Barbados-flagged, UK-owned and operated bulk carrier. The ship reported no injuries but very minor damage in the attack and continued its voyage.”

Hezbollah threatens the South

Meanwhile, Hezbollah put out a new video threatening Israel and saying it can target the entire country, as far south as Eilat. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed Israel would “pay” for recent clashes in the north in which Hezbollah members were killed. An IDF soldier was also killed last week in a missile attack on Safed.

The IDF said on Saturday that on Friday “IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Jabal Blat, and a terrorist was killed at the scene. In addition, a military compound was struck in the area of Bint Jbeil.

Over the past day, IDF artillery struck in a number of areas in southern Lebanon. Overnight, in response to launches from Syria toward the southern Golan Heights which didn’t cross into Israeli territory, IDF artillery struck the area of the fire, and fighter jets struck a weapons storage facility of the Syrian army in the area of Mhajjah.”

Iranian media also highlighted how its proxies are increasing threats. This included threats and articles on Hezbollah, as well as new comments from the Houthis threatening Israel. According to an article on Hezbollah, the group claimed to have targeted Israeli military bases.

The overall context then is that the Houthis and Hezbollah are both vowing to step up attacks, despite the fact they have faced opposition from the US and Israel respectively. Iran-backed Hamas also put out a statement broadcast on Iran’s Tasnim saying they would continue to fight until Israel leaves Gaza. 

Seth Frantzman is the author of Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machine, Artificial Intelligence and the Battle for the Future (Bombardier 2021) and an adjunct fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies.