Yemen Monitor / Marib / Exclusive:
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has sent a senior commander to Yemen to address what opposing Yemeni media described as a leadership crisis within the Houthi movement, according to a report published by “Defiance Line,” a website specializing in defense and security news.
The site wrote: “The Houthis are currently facing a crisis of choices and priorities, pressing internal challenges, and a complex regional scene that does not allow them much, especially following indications of a shift in some of Tehran’s directions toward regional countries.”
Quds Force Commander Abdul Reza Shahlai has returned to Sana’a after being recalled to Iran amid tension with Israel earlier this year, according to the report.
The IRGC and the experts present as “Jihadi assistants to the Houthis do not fill this strategic vacuum.” They are, in essence, an extension and reflection of the prevailing chaos in Tehran… The Iranians were forced to return the prominent commander, Abdul Reza Shahlai, to Sana’a after October 7th.
Shahlai is considered one of the most enigmatic IRGC commanders, and Iran International reported in March that the Islamic Republic had not confirmed or denied his presence.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Shahlai and offered a $15 million reward for information about his network and activities. US officials say he survived a drone strike on the same night former Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in Baghdad, and he remains a pivotal element in Iran’s operations in Yemen.
In a separate report published by the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday, high-level Yemeni political sources were quoted as saying that Iran is increasing its military and security support to compensate for what it called its setbacks elsewhere.
Recent Israeli strikes revealed significant security vulnerabilities within the Houthi group, harming the group’s standing, according to a source who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.
