Russia may be arming Houthi rebels with anti-ship missiles: US intel

• Russia is debating arming Yemen’s Houthi rebels with anti-ship missiles, US intelligence said.
• Perhaps it will come in response to Biden allowing Ukraine’s use of US weapons on Russian soil.
• Russia has previously expressed its anger at US and UK attacks on the Houthis.

Russia is trying to arm Yemen’s Houthi rebels with advanced cruise missiles, US intelligence agencies have warned, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The move is likely in response to Biden quietly greenlighting the use of US-supplied weapons on Russian territory, according to the report.

Last month, Middle East Eye reported that Saudi Arabia had already talked to Russia about providing anti-ship missiles to the Houthis. US officials now believe Moscow is renewing its crackdown on rebels, The Journal reported.

The White House hopes to prevent Russia from sending weapons by using a third country as an intermediary, the agency added, citing unnamed US officials.

Russia has previously expressed its anger at US and UK strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis, which began over the group’s targeting of Red Sea vessels.

The group attacked the ships in the area with missiles and drones since October as part of a campaign aimed at putting pressure on Israel and the West over the Gaza conflict.

Between October 17 and the beginning of May, the Houthis attacked commercial vessels at least 53 times while threatening naval vessels on several other occasions, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in January that Russia condemned the US and UK’s retaliatory strikes on Yemen, calling them “illegal” under “international law.”

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group has fired more than 500 missiles in total against Houthi drones, missiles and targets in Yemen since May, as Business Insider previously reported.

Despite these efforts, there are concerns that the US is not doing enough to combat such attacks.

Another administration official told The Journal that US Central Command has been told to come up with other possible targets for future strikes.

Business Insider has contacted the US Department of Defense and the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

The Houthis have acquired several anti-ship missiles in the past.

The International Center for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank, said in a January report that Houthi forces have had anti-ship missiles “for almost a decade now, using them to harass military traffic and of business.”

The rebels received their first anti-ship missiles in late 2014 and early 2015 when they took control of northern Yemen, the tank report said.

These missiles included the nearly defunct Soviet-era P-21 and P-22, as well as the Chinese C-801.

“It is not clear if they are still active or how many there are,” it continued. “More importantly, the Houthi forces have received new, better equipment since they were first purchased.

Cooperation between Russia and the Houthis is growing

Earlier this year, the Houthis reportedly said they would not target Russian or Chinese ships passing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

In March, a member of the political office of the Houthi Ali al-Qahoum said that there is “permanent cooperation and development of relations between the countries of Yemen, Russia, China and BRICS, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience in the areas different.”

“This is necessary to drown America, the US and the West in the mud [the crisis] around the Red Sea, making them closed, weak and unable to maintain unity,” he added.