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Iran Using Houthis’ Yemen as Weapons ‘Testing Ground’
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
JNS.org – Israeli air defense officials are reviewing the performance of Air Force detection and interception capabilities on Sunday, hours after the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen fired a surface-to-surface missile that set off sirens across central Israel.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, at 6:21 on Sunday morning, the missile was launched from Yemen towards Israeli territory, and it likely fragmented mid-air, according to preliminary findings.
The attack triggered several interception attempts by Israel’s Arrow and Iron Dome defense systems, the IDF said. These attempts, and the effectiveness of the interceptions, are under review. Warning sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol.
IDF Lt. Col. (res.) Michael Segal, an expert on Iranian strategic issues who is today chief information officer at the Tel Aviv-based Acumen Risk intelligence and risk management consultancy, told JNS that in recent years, Yemen has served as Iran’s largest testing ground for various types of weapons.
“During the Saudi coalition’s operations in Yemen, following the Houthi takeover of parts of the country during the Arab Spring, the Houthis fired a wide range of missiles, drones, and rockets at strategic sites in Saudi Arabia, including oil facilities and airports. Yemen, where active fighting continues in various regions, offers Iran an opportunity to test a variety of weapons, from roadside bombs, sniper rifles and anti-tank weapons to ballistic missiles and drones,” Segal said.
“These weapons are transferred to the Houthis either as complete systems or in parts and are assembled in Yemen,” he continued.
Since early September, the Houthis have downed two American MQ-9 Reaper drones, likely using Iranian 358 surface-to-air missiles, which are also likely in the possession of Hezbollah in Lebanon and pro-Iran militias in Iraq.
Iran’s strategy of integrating the Houthis into the “axis of resistance” proved successful after Hamas’s Oct. 7 mass murder attack, when the Houthis joined the campaign in the Red Sea, disrupting Israeli shipping routes and severely damaging Egypt’s revenue from the Suez Canal, Segal noted.
In August, a Houthi drone expert, Hussein Mastour al-Shabeel, was killed in a U.S. strike on the Kata’ib Hezbollah Shi’ite militia in Iraq, a reminder that Iran is transferring information via its proxies from one arena to the other, through trainers, he added. This knowledge transfer includes long-range missiles, Segal said, including the past use of Hezbollah trainers in Yemen.
Underpinning this strategy is a fanatical Iranian religious ideology, expressed recently by the commander of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, who stated during a ceremony of the Iranian military, “We have come to prepare the Earth for the reappearance of Imam Mahdi,” according to the Iran Dossier website.
This messianic Shi’ite Islamist vision has been defined by Iranian officials as the goal of the Islamic Revolution, and used to justify aggression and proxy-building throughout the Middle East.
‘Fight to the last Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemeni, Iraqi‘
“I would argue that Iran’s long-term strategy, similar to its approach in Lebanon, Iraq, Gaza and Judea and Samaria, has successfully encircled Israel and kept it occupied on multiple fronts, all without Iran itself paying any direct price. Iran’s rationale is to push conflicts away from its borders and avoid involvement unless necessary—thus far, Iran has not responded to the assassination of Haniyeh on its soil,” said Segal.
“In essence, Iran is willing to fight to the last Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemeni and Iraqi. If Israel and the West seek long-term stability in the region, they must remove Iran from the equation, primarily by posing a direct threat to Iran and its leader, [Ali] Khamenei, personally,” he added.
Sunday’s missile attack led to debris from the interceptors falling in open areas, with fragments landing at the Paatei Modi’in Railway Station, west of Jerusalem. Additionally, a fire broke out near Moshav Kfar Daniel, with Israel Fire and Rescue Service crews arriving to contain and extinguish the flames.
The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Israel’s Army Radio, Saree said the missile was a hypersonic ballistic projectile capable of reaching a range of 2,040 kilometers (1,268 miles) in 11.5 minutes. He described the strike as part of the fifth escalation phase in the Houthi campaign against Israel.
A hypersonic missile is usually defined as a weapon capable of traveling at least Mach 5 or faster (five times the speed of sound)—a speed that can be matched by existing ballistic missiles. The difference is in the ability of hypersonic missiles to maneuver within the atmosphere after they re-enter it from space, according to the Washington-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
No indication they reached the testing stage
Uzi Rubi, founder and first director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Defense Ministry, who played a key role in the development of the first Arrow missile defense program, expressed skepticism about claims that Sunday’s missile was hypersonic.
He noted that while Iran has announced its intentions to develop such weapons, there is no indication that they have reached the testing stage. Rubin, a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, assessed that the missile’s flight time matched that of a conventional ballistic missile.
“There is no doubt that the Iranians provided the Houthis with a version that is a little longer in range than the Qader missiles, which the Houthis have been using to attack Eilat until now,” he said.
In an analysis published at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University in June, Rubin noted that the Ghader missile is a “more advanced version of the famous Iranian missile, Shahab 3,” which itself is a North Korean design that is manufactured under license in Iran.
He noted that Iranians have delivered Ghader missiles to “their Houthi allies in Yemen,” who used them to target Eilat six to seven times between October 2023 and June 2024. The Ghader’s accuracy is not very high, he said, and it is more suited for targeting population centers than precise facilities.
The Houthis have fired more than 200 projectiles at Israel since Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, according to IDF assessments. The Iranian-backed terrorists in Yemen also declared a maritime siege on Israel and parts of the Middle East, and attacked dozens of vessels from around the world, sinking some and disrupting the global economy.
The IDF is investigating its air defense performance. It declined to comment further on the incident.
Army Radio reported that since the start of the war, the Arrow system has intercepted numerous ballistic missiles, with a near-perfect success rate. This includes previous Houthi-launched ballistic missiles and the Iranian missile barrage on April 14.
On July 19, the Israeli Air Force targeted the Houthi-controlled fuel port of Hudeidah in “Operation Long Arm,” which involved fighter jets flying the same distance needed to hit Iran and striking port infrastructure used for terror activity, after which the Houthis vowed retaliation. The IAF attack came a day after the Houthis fired an Iranian-made Samad 3 suicide unmanned aerial vehicle at Tel Aviv, killing a civilian and injuring several others.
In April, a cruise missile fired from Yemen exploded north of Eilat,
This latest incident underscores the complex challenges Israel faces as it continues to defend itself against a multi-front war, addressing threats from both regional actors and distant adversaries like the Iran-backed Houthis. With the investigation underway, Israeli officials are reassessing the effectiveness of their missile defense systems in the face of evolving missile threats.
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Trump Open to Meeting Iran’s Leaders, Sees Chance of Nuclear Deal
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump this week said he is open to meeting Iran’s supreme leader or president and that he thinks the two countries will strike a new deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
However, Trump, who in 2018 pulled the US out of a now moribund nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, repeated a threat of military action against Iran unless a new pact is swiftly reached to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.
Trump, in an April 22 interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran” following indirect US-Iranian talks last week in which the side agreed to draw up a framework for a potential deal.
The Republican US president, speaking separately to reporters at the White House on Friday, reiterated his positive prognosis, saying: “Iran, I think, is going very well. We’ll see what happens.”
A US official said the discussions yielded “very good progress.”
Asked by Time whether he was open to meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner who has the last say on all major state policies, or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied: “Sure.”
Expert-level talks are set to resume on Saturday in Oman, which has acted as intermediary between the longtime adversaries, with a third round of high-level nuclear discussions planned for the same day.
Israel, a close US ally and Iran’s major Middle East foe, has described the Islamic Republic’s escalating uranium enrichment program – a potential pathway to nuclear bombs – as an “existential threat.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, saying partial measures will not suffice to ensure Israel’s security.
Asked in the interview if he was concerned Netanyahu might drag the United States into a war with Iran, Trump said: “No.”
‘I’LL BE LEADING THE PACK’
However, when asked if the US would join a war against Iran should Israel take action, he responded: “I may go in very willingly if we can’t get a deal. If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack.”
In March, Iran responded to a letter from Trump in which he urged it to negotiate a new deal by stating it would not engage in direct talks under maximum pressure and military threats but was open to indirect negotiations, as in the past.
Although the current talks have been indirect and mediated by Oman, US and Iranian officials did speak face-to-face briefly following the first round on April 12.
The last known face-to-face negotiations between the two countries took place under former US President Barack Obama during diplomacy that led to the 2015 nuclear accord.
Western powers accuse Iran of harboring a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly peaceful. The 2015 deal temporarily curbed its uranium enrichment activity in exchange for relief from international sanctions, but Iran resumed and accelerated enrichment after the Trump walkout in 2018.
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Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say
US President Donald speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC on March 3, 2025. Photo: Leah Millis via Reuters Connect
The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during US President Donald Trump‘s visit to the kingdom in May.
The offered package comes after the administration of former President Joe Biden unsuccessfully tried to finalize a defense pact with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisioned Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.
The Biden proposal offered access to more advanced US weaponry in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing’s investment in the country. Reuters could not establish if the Trump administration’s proposal includes similar requirements.
The White House and Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A US Defense official said: “Our defense relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever under President Trump‘s leadership. Maintaining our security cooperation remains an important component of this partnership and we will continue to work with Saudi Arabia to address their defense needs.”
In his first term, Trump celebrated weapons sales to Saudi Arabia as good for US jobs.
Lockheed Martin Corp could supply a range of advanced weapons systems including C-130 transport aircraft, two of the sources said. One source said Lockheed would also supply missiles and radars.
RTX Corp, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, is also expected to play a significant role in the package, which will include supplies from other major US defense contractors such as Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp and General Atomics, said four of the sources.
All the sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
RTX, Northrop and General Atomics declined to comment. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions. Questions about sales to foreign governments are best addressed by the US government.
Reuters could not immediately establish how many of the deals on offer were new. Many have been in the works for some time, two of the sources said. For example, the kingdom first requested information about General Atomics’ drones in 2018, they said. Over the past 12 months, a deal for $20 billion of General Atomics’ MQ-9B SeaGuardian-style drones and other aircraft came into focus, according to one of the sources.
Several executives from defense companies are considering traveling to the region as a part of the delegation, three of the sources said.
The US has long supplied Saudi Arabia with weapons. In 2017, Trump proposed approximately $110 billion of sales to the kingdom.
As of 2018, only $14.5 billion of sales had been initiated and Congress began to question the deals in light of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In 2021, under Biden, Congress imposed a ban on sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi killing and to pressure the kingdom to wind down its Yemen war, which had inflicted heavy civilian casualties.
Under US law, major international weapons deals must be reviewed by members of Congress before they are finalized.
The Biden administration began to soften its stance on Saudi Arabia in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacted global oil supplies. The ban on offensive weapons sales was lifted in 2024, as Washington worked more closely with Riyadh in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack to devise a plan for post-war Gaza.
A potential deal for Lockheed’s F-35 jets, which the kingdom has been reportedly interested in for years, is expected to be discussed, three of the sources said, while downplaying the chances for an F-35 deal being signed during the trip.
The United States guarantees that its close ally Israel receives more advanced American weapons than Arab states, giving it what is labeled a “Qualitative Military Edge” (QME) over its neighbors.
Israel has now owned F-35s for nine years, building multiple squadrons.
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Iran Summons Dutch Envoy to Protest Assassination Attempts Claim
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to Tehran on Friday, the official IRNA news agency reported, a day after the Netherlands called in Iran‘s envoy over suspicions that Iran was behind two assassination attempts.
An Iranian foreign ministry official described the Dutch accusation as “laughable” and based on “suspicions or assumptions,” according to IRNA.
“It is regrettable that the Dutch diplomatic apparatus acts so easily on speculations injected by its security bodies and the Zionist regime [Israel], and even summons the Iranian ambassador over such an absurd fabrication,” the official, Alireza Yousefi, was quoted as saying.
The Netherlands summoned Iran‘s ambassador after the Dutch intelligence agency, known as the AIVD, said in its annual report published on Thursday that it was likely Iran was behind two assassination attempts in the Netherlands and Spain.
Two men were arrested in June 2024 in the Dutch town of Haarlem after an assassination attempt on an Iranian residing in the country, the report said.
One of the suspects was also believed to have been behind the failed assassination attempt on Spanish politician and Iran critic Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Madrid in November 2023, it said.
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