According to the FARS News Agency, a senior Ansarullah commander, Ebrahim al-Sa’ada, has stated that he and his fighters have seized U.S.-made missiles by raiding a Saudi Arabian military base. “Our fighters have seized advanced surface-to-surface missiles from Akafeh military base in Najran province in Southern Saudi Arabia.” Al Sa’ada declined to provide the name of the missiles and its respective launch system citing security concerns.
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There are three types U.S.-made surface-to-surface missiles that Saudi Arabia has purchased from the United States: Raytheon’s BGM-71 TOW, Boeing’s RGM 84 Harpoon, and Raytheon/Lockheed Martin’s FGM 84 Javelin, all of which are possibilities of being in the hands of the Iran-backed Ansarullah fighters (Saudi officials have not confirmed, denied and/or acknowledged Al-Sa’ada’s claim on the alleged seizure of these U.S.-made missiles). It was about six months ago that Iran was suspected of shipping weapons to the Houthi fighters in Yemen when an Iranian ‘fishing vessel’ was seized and had anti-tank missiles aboard.
This announcement by Al-Sa’ada comes on the heels of Yemeni forces destroying Saudi military positions in part of the Yemeni desert with the Qaher-1 ballistic missile, a Yemeni-modified Russian-made S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile, that has killed hundreds of Saudi forces. This proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran has seen losses on both sides with the Yemeni people suffering the most from it.
As Iran continues on its path of financial independence from their Iran Deal, it can only mean one thing for the Ansarullah Houthi fighters in Yemen, more cash flow to continue Iran’s proxy war against Saudi Arabia and more possible seizures of U.S.-made weapons/equipment that ‘belong’ to the Saudi military. Iran wants to push Saudi Arabia into a ‘checkmate’ situation with regards to Yemen; deplete the Kingdom’s pocketbook by continuing the war there and wear them down. This recent revelation of U.S.-made missiles being seized from a Saudi military base only adds to the quagmire of this war that continues to rage on.
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