Exclusive: Houthi and IRGC leaders hold a secret meeting in Hodeidah

Leaders of Houthi militia and commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) held a secret meeting in the past hours in Hodeidah province (western Yemen). The meeting was headed by someone known as the "General Supervisor of the Naval Forces" and discussed a military escalation plan that Tehran intends to implement in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf.

Two sources familiar with the matter told Khabar Agency, that Mansour Al-Saadi "AKA Abu Sajjad" and experts from (IRGC) discussed the implementation of military operations in the Red and Arabian Gulf, without specifying the timing and objectives.

This came after a series of meetings held in recent weeks by the Houthi leader "Abu Sujad" with Iranian officers, during which he met with several fishermen and recruited individuals in the cities of Hodeidah, Kateeb, and Kamaran Island, regarding carrying out terrorist attacks in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf.

According to the sources who requested anonymity, the tasks assigned to these elements included carrying out infiltrations towards commercial ships crossing the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, as well as military vessels, photographing and monitoring their movements, and transmitting information about them directly to a joint operations center linked to the Houthis. In addition, they engaged in harassing these ships with gunfire, sometimes targeting them with projectiles, planting maritime mines, preparing booby-trapped boats, launching drones, and attempting to board them.

Houthi militia transferred these fishermen in these meetings to the island of Kamran and trained them on the operations of planting sea mines, booby-trapping boats, and launching explosive boats. The sources said.

The Houthis exploit fishermen to recruit them in their naval military attacks and clashes with ships, using them as a type of human shields for their fighters, in order not to draw attention to the militia and take advantage of the fishermen issue when they respond to them and expose themselves to the risks of kidnapping or killing. They added.

"Abu Sajjad" is directly responsible for military operations in the Red and Arabian Gulf, which are carried out under the direct supervision of experts in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, with whom he has a longstanding relationship with its leaders.