Beyond nukes: Iran pushes MidEast power play

While the outcome of the latest phase in nuclear negotiations between Iran and P5+1 powers remains uncertain, Iran is forging ahead with its quest for dominance in the Middle East region.

Yemen

Judging from images appearing in Iranian media of airplanes loaded with humanitarian aid headed for Yemen, and of Shi’a-Muslim Houthi rebels being shipped to Iran for medical treatment, it seems that Iran is making little effort to hide its affinity for the Houthis, said Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

While it is not necessarily possible to verify precisely what materials are being shipped from Iran to Yemen, Ottolenghi described “a track record of Iran sending ships of aid” containing weapons.  

“We’ve seen it in shipments to Gaza [and] shipments to Lebanon,” he said.

The establishment of direct flights between Iran and Yemen by the Iranian carrier Mahan Air is another indication of Iran’s interest in the Yemenite conflict. That airline has coordinated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) by “secretly ferrying operatives, weapons, and funds on its flights,” U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen said in 2011.  

“The Houthis are aligned with Iran, but they’re not the creation of Iran. They have more  so thrown themselves at the Iranians than the other way around,” said Gregory Gause, head of the International Affairs Department at the Bush School of Government and Public Service of Texas A&M University.

Dr. Hooshang Amirahmadi — a professor of planning and public policy at New Jersey-based Rutgers University and a candidate in Iran’s 2013 presidential race — argued that while the Houthis are Shi’a Muslims, as is the Iranian regime, the Houthis should not be equated with Hezbollah, a Shi’ia terror group that has much closer ties to Iran.

Yet Reuters has reported that Iran provided significant military and financial support to the Houthis before and after their takeover of Sana’a (Yemen’s capital) last September.

Lebanon and Syria