Iranian assistance has helped Yemen’s Houthi movement carry out more effective and sophisticated attacks against Saudi Arabia and Yemeni government forces.

Iran’s support reportedly includes assistance with drone and missile targeting, training, intelligence gathering and operational and tactical guidance, according to Interfax.

Iran previously supplied the Houthis with weapons and transported specialists from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement by boat. After US and Israeli actions disrupted earlier supply routes, Iran reportedly began using submarines to transport weapons.

IRGC officers are tasked with assisting Houthi units across all areas of military activity, including drones, missiles, tunnels and logistics.

A new escalation in regional hostilities began in July, when Iran sent two aircraft to Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. The flights were reportedly intended to transport officials and others wishing to travel to Tehran for the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The aircraft were also carrying Iranian officers, weapons, drone components, missile guidance systems and detonators.

Forces aligned with Saudi Arabia attempted to prevent the second aircraft from landing by bombing the runway in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The incident was followed by a renewed escalation in the conflict.

Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti rejected the accusations, saying claims that the aircraft were transporting IRGC officers and weapons were merely a pretext for Saudi attacks.

In September, the Houthis carried out a successful offensive along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

The group had performed more effectively than in previous operations by combining ground assaults with missile and drone strikes. IRGC officers were reportedly present on the front lines, assisting with drone and missile operations.

The Houthis were developing positions to strengthen their control over the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, deploying missiles and radar systems with alleged IRGC assistance.

Al-Bukhaiti countered that claims of Iranian backing overlooked the Houthis’ own achievements in developing their weapons capabilities.

Tehran, for its part, has maintained that it does not interfere in Yemen’s internal affairs and that the Houthis make their own decisions based on their interests.