Iran Denies Directing Houthi Offensive as Yemen's Red Sea Coast Falls Under Group's Control

Iran has pushed back against mounting allegations that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps played a hands-on role in recent Houthi military gains in Yemen, even as the Tehran-aligned group consolidates control over one of the world's most strategically vital waterways.

The denials follow a series of reports in US media suggesting that IRGC personnel helped steer an offensive in western Yemen that cemented Houthi authority over the Bab al-Mandeb strait and the port city of Mocha. According to those accounts, which cited unnamed officials and soldiers, Iranian advisers worked alongside front-line commanders, assisted with communications and satellite-intelligence analysis, and pledged continued military backing to the group formally known as Ansar Allah.

Tehran has not responded to the specifics of the latest claims, but Iranian authorities have consistently rejected the notion that they command the Houthis. Both Iran and the Yemeni group have long emphasised the Houthis' independent decision-making, even as their geopolitical objectives frequently align.

The IRGC, for its part, has framed the Houthis' recent battlefield advances as a "divine triumph" earned after years of resilience, a characterization that stops short of claiming direct operational responsibility while still celebrating the gains.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the issue this week in an interview with Al Jazeera, dismissing any link between his country and Houthi military operations. He used the occasion to call on Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government, and the Houthis to pursue negotiations aimed at ending their protracted conflict. At the same time, Pezeshkian offered Iran's assistance in mediating a resolution to a war that has seen Houthi missiles and drones strike Saudi cities.

The diplomatic messaging from Tehran has been reinforced by Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which earlier this month rejected US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's assertion that the Houthis function as an Iranian proxy. The ministry also drew attention to the severe humanitarian fallout from a Saudi-imposed blockade on Yemen, seeking to shift the focus from questions of military patronage to the civilian toll of the conflict.

The timing of the allegations is significant. The Houthis' coastal gains have coincided with Iranian disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a parallel pressure campaign that US media reports have linked to Tehran's efforts to compel Washington to lift its naval blockade. Together, the two maritime flashpoints — Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf and Bab al-Mandeb at the southern end of the Red Sea — have raised alarms about the security of global energy and commercial shipping lanes.

In September, the Houthis captured Mocha, Dhubab and Mayyun, also known as Perim Island, a trio of gains that gave them effective command of Yemen's entire west coast and the Bab al-Mandeb strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The advances also severed the internationally recognised Yemeni government's access to the Red Sea, a significant strategic and symbolic blow.

The scale of the Houthis' transformation has been a subject of international scrutiny for years. A confidential United Nations report leaked to US media in September 2024 alleged that, with assistance from the IRGC, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi specialists, the Houthis had evolved "from a localised armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organisation." The report further claimed that Houthi members were receiving tactical and technical training outside Yemen and travelling on falsified passports to Iran, Lebanon and Iraq.

A separate episode in mid-July illustrated the tensions surrounding Iran's involvement. An Iranian passenger aircraft attempted to breach the Saudi-led blockade by landing at the Houthi-controlled airport in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital. The plane was diverted after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government bombed the airport shortly before its scheduled arrival, forcing the aircraft to land instead in Hodeidah. A Houthi official rejected government claims that the flight carried IRGC personnel. Iranian authorities said the plane was transporting a Houthi delegation that had attended the funeral of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with Yemeni nationals who had received medical treatment in Iran.

Regional powers have begun to respond to the shifting battlefield. On September 25, military chiefs of staff from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan convened in Riyadh for talks aimed at supporting the kingdom as Houthi attacks on the world's top crude exporter intensify. According to Ankara, the meeting brought together Turkiye's Chief of General Staff Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, Marshal Syed Asim Munir of Pakistan and General Fayyadh bin Hamed al-Ruwaili of Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis have escalated their strikes on Saudi Arabia since July, ending a years-long truce, declaring a maritime blockade and targeting Saudi assets while seizing Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline in an effort to choke off Saudi oil exports. The renewed hostilities have underscored how quickly Yemen's war can destabilise the broader region and threaten international shipping.

For Iran, the balancing act is delicate. Openly acknowledging operational control over the Houthis would lend credibility to accusations that it is directing a proxy war across the Middle East, potentially inviting further sanctions or military retaliation. Yet the strategic benefits of Houthi pressure on Saudi Arabia and the disruption of Red Sea shipping are undeniable, giving Tehran leverage in its broader standoff with Washington and its regional rivals.

The coming weeks will test whether Iran's public calls for negotiation can gain traction, or whether the momentum of Houthi advances — and the allegations of Iranian involvement that accompany them — will push the region toward a wider and more dangerous confrontation.