Iran-Made Drones in the Yemen War

Since the beginning of the war in Yemen, the Houthi forces known as Ansar Allah (Zaydi Shiites) have utilized complex operations against their opponents allied with Saudi Arabia. Throughout this war, Iran has repeatedly been accused of providing financial and military assistance to the Houthis, which it has denied each time. In October 2016, a Reuters report indicated that Iran had increased its arms shipments to the Houthis in Yemen through Oman, including small arms and various missiles. American officials in Washington expressed concern, but the Omani Foreign Minister deemed the report inaccurate. The Reuters report also mentioned that some Western officials doubted the fundamental issue of whether the Houthis had received significant amounts of weapons from Iran. Nevertheless, in recent months, the Houthis have gained attention for two unprecedented events: first, a missile attack on a ship belonging to the United Arab Emirates in the strategically significant Red Sea; and second, a missile attack against an American warship. Although the Houthis have consistently used Scud missiles and surface-to-surface rockets against Saudi Arabia, the aforementioned cases require a higher level of missile capability, which significantly differs from their previous use of Scud missiles. A week ago, at the end of March, the publication of a report from researchers regarding the transfer of Iranian technology to Yemen largely solves the missile mystery of Yemen. According to this new report, between October 2016 and March 2017, the 'Conflict Armament Research Center' examined seven remotely piloted aircraft (drones) and one drone engine that had been discovered. These pieces of equipment are currently in the possession of the Presidential Guard of the United Arab Emirates, which apparently seized them in the Marib province of Yemen. The drones were transported into Yemen via land routes from Oman. Additionally, one of the drones exploded and crashed near Aden International Airport, and one defective drone engine was also obtained following Houthi attacks in Marib province. On February 26, 2017, Houthi forces displayed four drones and claimed to be the manufacturers of these drones. One of the systems displayed, named Qasef-1, closely resembles what was studied by the Conflict Armament Research Center. The center's research concludes that the Houthis are not the actual producers of Qasef-1; rather, Qasef-1 is a variant of Ababil-2 produced by the 'Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Company.' The drone displayed by the Houthis is similar but significantly smaller than the Ababil-C model and has precise similarities with the Ababil-T (an offensive type from the Ababil group). Qasef-1 is not only equal to Ababil-T in terms of construction and design details, but both serial numbers start with similar digits. According to this center, the discovery and seizure of six Qasef-1 drones being transferred from Oman to Yemen (via usual smuggling routes to Yemen) indicates that Qasef-1 is not made in Yemen but has been imported from Iran. The United Arab Emirates forces claim that the Yemeni Houthis known as Ansar Allah and allies of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh can target the MIM-104 missiles of the Saudi coalition forces, which is a surface-to-air missile system, using Qasef-1 drones. This is done by detonating the drone upon impact with the missiles or radar systems (especially rotating radar systems) using GPS. While coalition forces use Patriot missiles to neutralize missile threats, destroying the Patriot radar system allows the Houthis to target and destroy military storage facilities of coalition forces without facing defensive systems. The use of drones by the Houthis and forces allied with Ali Abdullah Saleh shows that they can inflict significant damage on coalition forces with Saudi Arabia even at low costs and by employing inexpensive technology. The report from the research center concludes that the discovery of these drones is evidence of a direct relationship between the weapons obtained from the Houthi groups and allies of Ali Abdullah Saleh and the national arms reserves of Iran. Therefore, Iran's support, contrary to claims, is not limited to moral support but also includes military support so that the Houthis can participate in asymmetric military operations. There has been no official reaction from Iran regarding this report.