Iran-backed fighters in Yemen and Iraq are joining forces to threaten the Gulf
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CAIRO (AP) -- In July, Saudi Arabia and the United States bombed Iran-backed militias in Iraq after blaming them for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities that had been claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, another Iranian ally.
Now, regional officials tell The Associated Press that the Houthis helped the Iraqi militias plan and execute the two-day swarm attack, showing a new level of coordination.
Iran spent decades building up armed groups on Israel’s frontiers that suffered major losses in the wars following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza. Israel battered the Palestinian militants as well as Lebanon's Hezbollah, which had been Iran's most powerful ally.
Regional officials and experts say Iran is now using the Iraqi militias and the Houthis to threaten Saudi Arabia and other American allies in the Gulf in order to drive up the costs of the war launched by the U.S. and Israel in February.
It is a risky strategy. A wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi oil facilities on Tuesday threatened to reignite full-scale war with the kingdom. Iraq has ordered militias to disarm by the end of this month, though powerful Iran-backed groups have refused to do so. A new American effort to economically isolate Iran could spark further escalation.
Iran-backed groups in Yemen and Iraq form a pincer movement
The Houthi involvement in the Iraqi drone attack was confirmed by two Saudi officials, citing intelligence, and a senior Iraqi security official. They said Houthi emissaries worked in an operations room run by Iraqi militias.
Saudi Arabia and the U.S. responded with joint airstrikes that killed at least 20 Iraqi fighters, six Iranian advisers and at least one Houthi official. The death of the Houthi, not previously reported, was confirmed by a Houthi official and an Iraqi militia member.
A U.S. military official said Houthis had been killed in previous strikes in Iraq. The U.S. is concerned about the Houthi presence there and their ability to launch attacks on other countries, including Saudi Arabia, the official said.
Two officials with the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of militias that is officially part of Iraq’s security forces, denied involvement in the attack on Saudi Arabia and denied that the Houthis were operating under its auspices. The PMF includes powerful militias backed by Iran that sometimes act independently.
All the officials and the militia member spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. The Houthis did not respond to a request for comment.