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Exposed: Iran Regime’s New Smuggling Routes to Houthis

 

NCRI – The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have found new, secret shipping routes to smuggle arms to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, in defiance of an international embargo.

Earlier reports indicated that the IRGC, the Regime’s personal terror squad, had been smuggling weapons either directly into Yemen or via Somalia but this risked contact with international naval vessels in Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, so for the last six months the IRGC has been shipping them in Kuwaiti waters where there is less security.

According to an unnamed Iranian official, they are shipping missile parts that cannot be manufactured in Yemen, cash, and drugs to the Houthis in order to fund their terrorist activities.

The official said: “Parts of missiles, launchers and drugs are smuggled into Yemen via Kuwaiti waters. The route sometimes is used for transferring cash as well.”

Efforts to intercept and seize the illicit arms shipments have had limited success, with none caught so far in 2017.

Gerry Northwood, a former British Royal Navy captain who now works at security firm MAST, said: “(The territorial waters of) Iran, Kuwait and Iraq in the northern Persian Gulf butt up against each other. There is still plenty of room for smugglers to operate. In fact the whole Persian Gulf is a hive of small boat activity. And this is in an area where one man’s illegitimate trade is another’s legitimate trade.”

A second Iranian official reported that this new route is a lot safer for these illegal arms shipments.

The official also said: “Smaller Iranian ports are being used for the activity as major ports might attract attention.”

The official also confirmed what has long been suspected, that the IRGC is heavily involved in the smuggling operation, which was backed up by a third official.

The second official said: “No activity goes ahead in the Gulf without the IRGC being involved. This activity involves a huge amount of money as well as transferring equipment to Iranian-backed groups in their fight against their enemies.”

Yemen is embroiled in a two-year civil war, where the Houthi terror cell is fighting against the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by the international community.
So far, 10,000 have died in the fighting, the country is on the brink of famine, and a cholera outbreak has so far infected over 300,000.

According to a UN report, the Houthis are in need of a constant supply of weapons from the Iranians otherwise they will quickly be defeated.