Since the six Sa’ada wars to this day, Iran has continued to smuggle weapons to the Houthis in a flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and also in violation of Security Council Resolution No. 2216, which prohibits the sale of arms to the Houthis, but rather, Iran goes beyond the decision to ban the sale to supplying its militias in Yemen and the region with various weapons for free and taking different routes to smuggle it. And the results of Iran smuggling arms to the Houthi militia are reflected in the militia’s growing armament capabilities, which enabled it to escalate its military operations on the fronts of the interior and target Saudi territory with ballistic missiles and drones, as well as threatening the security of the international trade route passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea.

Iran’s support for the Houthi militia is not limited to weapons only, but also includes the smuggling of drugs and prohibited in-kind materials used in the manufacture of explosives and mines, in addition to training and sending experts in assembling smuggled weapons and developing the militia’s stockpile of weapons looted from the Yemeni army warehouses after the coup against the state, and also sending experts to supervise the militia’s battles and are present on a number of fronts, and all this support is tireless despite the confiscation of a large number of smuggled weapons on their way to the Houthis.

- Admitting and bragging about arms smuggling:

Iran admits to smuggling arms to the Houthis in a provocative manner and in a bragging tone that is not without challenge, to send political messages to some countries in the region, foremost of which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that the influence of Iran extends to several Arab countries and that it is able to impose its agenda by force of arms and militia violence. These confessions are repeated from time to time, as a reminder of those political messages, and to display their influence, dominance and ability to sabotage and harm.

In his speech on December 10, 2017, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani affirmed the continuation of his country’s military intervention by supporting the Houthi militia in Yemen, similar to the intervention carried out by the Revolutionary Guards in support of those who call them “fighters of the axis of resistance” in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, as he put it.

And in his speech to Parliament and broadcast by Iranian TV, Rouhani affirmed the continuation of support for Iran's militias in the region and Yemen, and said: “I kiss the hands of the resistance fighters who sowed despair in the hearts of global arrogance and Zionism. They spread security throughout Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and Yemen sure will enjoy security as well."

The Iranian president's mentioned statements came about a month after the Iranian Public Prosecution issued a decision to stop the work of Kayhan newspaper, which is close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, for two days only, because it revealed the destination of the Houthi militia's missiles.

The newspaper had stated that the next targets of the Houthi missiles would be towards other regions in Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf states. And this came two days after Saudi air defenses intercepted a missile fired by this militia at Riyadh airport, in November 2017.

And on April 21, 2021, the assistant commander of the Quds Force affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, General Rostam Qassemi, admitted his country's military support to the Houthis, bragging about providing them with weapons and helping them develop their weapons, and revealing the presence of military advisers in Yemen to help the Houthis. And in an interview with the Russia Today channel, Qassemi said, "All the weapons that the Houthis possess are the result of our aid."

A number of Iranian officials and military leaders have previously admitted that their country smuggled weapons to the Houthis, including: Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, former Revolutionary Guards commander Aziz Jafari and current commander Hossein Salami when he was deputy commander of the guards, as well as Nasser Shabani who was a commander at Tha'r base.

- Weapon smuggling before the coup against the state:

Iran began smuggling weapons to the Houthis from the very beginning of their rebellion in the Saada Governorate and the outbreak of six rounds of wars between them and government forces during the period (2004-2010). And according to a UN report, on April 23, 2009, the crew of an unidentified Iranian ship transported boxes of weapons in international waters to Yemeni boats and then transported them to a farm in Yemen for use by the Houthis. In the same year, the Yemeni authorities also announced the seizure of the first smuggled Iranian arms shipment.

And in March 2010, the Yemeni navy announced that it had detained an Iranian ship near the Socotra archipelago from the coast of the Horn of Africa, with 16 Pakistani sailors on board, except for the ship's owner and its Iranian captain, while it was trying to smuggle prohibited materials.

And on January 23, 2011, the Yemeni Coast Guard forces also seized the Iranian ship "Jihan 1", which was carrying 48 tons of weapons to be smuggled to the Houthis, including surface-to-air missiles, Katyusha rockets, explosives, C-4 material that is used in making bombs, Iranian night vision binoculars and missiles Anti-aircraft. And the ship’s crew was referred to the criminal court specialized in terrorism and state security cases in Aden, but the ship managed to escape from the port, and the accused, who were transferred to Sana’a, were released by the Houthi militia after taking control of the state following the September 21, 2014 coup.

And in February 2011, the Yemeni Coast Guard announced that it had seized an Iranian fishing boat with 900 Iranian-made anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles on board, explaining that the shipment was destined for the Houthis.

And at a time when the echoes of the Jihan 1 are still echoing and its file has not yet been closed, the Yemeni security services seized on March 7, 2013 the Iranian ship Jihan 2 when it was trying to enter the Yemeni coast with a shipment of weapons on board to be smuggled to the Houthis.

Transporting weapons by flight:

Iran’s support for the Houthis with weapons was not limited to smuggling weapons only, but also took advantage of the turmoil that accompanied their control of the capital, Sana’a, to transport weapons via civil aviation, that is, before the outbreak of Operation of the Al-Hazm Storm in March 2015, where it started operating 14 flights a week between Tehran and Sana’a under the pretext of bringing in humanitarian aid, but that aid was missiles and weapons that Iran provided to the Houthis to kill Yemenis, and that continued until the outbreak of the Operation of the Al-Hazm Storm, where the Arab Alliance bombed the runway of Sanaa airport and prevented any Iranian plane from passing over Yemeni airspace.

And Iran continued to smuggle weapons to the Houthis by various means. And on March 8, 2016, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, General Massoud Jazairy, threatened to send Iranian forces to Yemen to help the Houthi militia, similar to Tehran's support for Bashar al-Assad's regime that is killing his people in Syria and its support for sectarian militias in Iraq and Lebanon.