Iran Seeks to Deploy Special Forces to Yemen

Iran is seeking to deploy Iranian Special Forces in Yemen to protect its diplomats in the country, BBC Monitoring is reporting, citing a July 25 report in Baraqish, which it characterizes as a privately-owned Yemen newspaper (presumably located in the northwestern Yemen city of the same name).

According to the BBC Monitoring report, diplomatic sources (presumably from Yemen) told Baraqish that Murteza Abedi, Iran’s charge d'affaires in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, asked Yemen’s Foreign Ministry to allow it to recruit Iranian Special Forces to protect its diplomats inside the country. 

The Diplomat could not independently verify the report, which doesn’t appear to have been reported by other media outlets.

If accurate, the request came days after an administrative staff member at Iran’s embassy in Sana’a was kidnapped by armed gunmen in the Hadda neighborhood in the southwestern part of the city, near where the Iranian embassy is located.

According to Global Post, it was the first time that an Iranian had been kidnaped in Yemen, although foreigners are often kidnapped in the country by groups seeking to use them as bargaining chips with the Yemeni government.

On Friday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said Iran would soon send a team into Yemen to investigate the kidnapping of the staff member, whose name is Nour Ahmad Nikbakht. Similar to earlier protests by Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Amir-Abdollahian slammed Yemen for failing to protect the Iranian embassy employee, which Salehi previously underscored is the responsibility of the host nation, according to international law.

A photo appearing on Press TV, Iran’s English-language news outlet purportedly showed a Yemen solider standing guard outside Iran’s embassy in Sana’a, although no date was given for when the photo was taken.

The BBC Monitoring report said that in making the request for Iranian Special Forces to be allowed to protect its diplomats in the country, Abedi had cited Yemen’s willingness to allow U.S. Marines to protect American diplomats as precedent.

The request, if accurate, is unlikely to be granted. Yemen and Iran have clashed over Tehran’s widely suspected support for separatist movements in the southern part of Yemen, as well as for the Houthi movement in the northern part of the country.

Iran’s alleged support for the northern-based Houthi movement is said to date back some time but has reportedly intensified greatly in recent years. The Houthis are Zayid Shi’a, the second largest Shi’a sect, which differs on significant and fundamental points from Twelver Shi’ism, the largest branch of the religion and the one most Iranians practice.

Since about 2004, the Houthis have alternated between being a legitimate political faction and being an armed insurgency fighting the government. Notably, they are located directly across the border from Saudi Arabia, prompting concern that Iran is seeking to establish a foothold alongside its regional rival by supporting the Houthis.

Despite frequent accusations that Iran is supporting the Houthis from the Saudi press and Yemen officials, it has long been disputed whether Iran is actually active in supporting the Houthis and, if so, to what extent. That being said, American intelligence officials that long dismissed the Saudi and Yemeni accusations now say that Iran does provide support for the group, according to the New York Times.

For years north and south Yemen were separate countries but they unified in 1990. Lingering hostilities have continued to simmer, however, and provoked a two-month civil war back in 1994.

In the south Iran is said to be working with Hiraaki [Southern Separatist Movement], one of the more outspoken proponents of southern secession from the Republic of Yemen.

For years north and south Yemen were separate countries but they united in 1990. Still, hostilities have continued to linger and provoked a two-month civil war back in 1994. They have intensified in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Hiraaki’s powerbase is near the Bab-al Mandab strait, a strategic chokepoint in the Persian Gulf, prompting fears that Iran hopes to use support for Hiraaki— which is a Sunni group— to gain control over Bab-al Mandab.

A June report in the Wall Street Journal quoted Qassem Askar, Hiraaki's secretary-general, as saying the group had been fracturing as of late, and that various elements deciding to seek arms and military and media training from Iran and Hezbollah, although he said senior Hiraaki officials demanded they stop doing so.

In January, Yemen’s Coast Guard intercepted a ship carrying sophisticated weapons on board, including 122 mm Katyusha rockets, anti-aircraft Strella 1 and 2 missiles (Manpads), Rocket Propelled Grenade launchers, materials to make explosives and night vision goggles. Yemen officials, all the way up to the president, said the weapons had originated from Iran and accused the government in Tehran of trying to arm the Houthis and Hiraaki groups. Iran denied any involvement in the shipment.

Iranian Army Ground Forces to hold armored drill in October: Commander

In March, Iran’s Army Ground Forces held a military drill, codenamed Bait-ul-Muqaddas 25, in the central Iranian province of Esfahan.

Over the past few years, Iran has held several military exercises to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and equipment.”

A senior Iranian commander says the Ground Forces of Iran’s Army will hold an armored drill in the southeastern parts of the country early in fall.

Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said on Sunday that the maneuvers will be held in October.

“This drill will be held in a vast area of the country’s southeast and tactics as well as methods of asymmetric warfare will be tested,” Pourdastan added.

Over the past few years, Iran has held several military exercises to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and equipment.

The Ground Forces of Iran’s Army recently held a military drill, codenamed Bait-ul-Muqaddas 25, in the central Iranian province of Esfahan and succeeded in achieving all pre-planned objectives.

In March, the Ground Forces launched a three-day drill, codenamed Khatam al-Anbia, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, during which new indigenous missiles were test-fired.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly assured other nations, especially its neighbors, that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.

Iran Claims (Again) To Have Some Awesome New Military Gear To Show Off (A View Through West)

Iran is claiming via their state news agency to have “made great strides in the production of military equipment.”

The report says that Iran will soon unveil a new drone, a new tank, new submarine, a new missile, and an already widely debunked stealth fighter jet that can “take off and land on short runways.”

The Iranian’s new weapons obviously have really intimidating names like “The Conqueror” for the fighter jet or “The Farsighted” for the drone.

This isn’t the first time that Iran has made lofty claims about their military prowess.

Back in April, we reported about how the Iranian military offered no evidence that they had tested an advanced rocket that was so amazing, it “made all the enemies' destroyers and ships retreated from near our borders.”

For all the bellicose rhetoric, there isn’t actually much to the Iranian military.

The reality is that Iran falls somewhere between Japan (which doesn’t have a military) and Indonesia on the global firepower scale.

Their military expenditures amount to around $10 billion, or 2.5% of their GDP, which ranks 54th globally.

Most analysts agree that Iran's military is defensive in nature, designed to slow down an assault in order to seek diplomatic ends, not so much project power.