Hebrew Site Calls for Bombing of Drone Factory in Yemen

A Hebrew security site claimed that Iran was using its allies in Yemen to launch attacks on international shipping lanes in the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea, saying this allowed Tehran room to maneuver and evade operations against Israeli and Saudi targets.

The site "Time of Israel", called for the strike of what he called "the manufacturing site of drones and airports in Yemen," claiming that it is "known and must be destroyed as soon as possible."

"Despite Iran's strong denial that it was not involved in an attack on the Mercer Street ship in the Gulf of Oman, America has revealed new details about the attack," it said.

 

American Anger

On August 10, 2021, Deputy Secretary of Defense for Middle East Affairs Dana Stroll was quoted as saying before the Senate: "The Iranian drones that hit the Mercer Street ship were launched from Yemen.

"This is an attack by an Iranian drone," the official said, adding that "Iranian armaments and the financing of organizations and militias are aimed at undermining the region as we work to stabilize."

"The pro-Iranian Houthis in Yemen have increased their drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in 2021 compared to recent years," she said.

Dana Stroll accused Iran of "increasing the seriousness and complexity of the equipment, and the knowledge it transmits to the Houthis to harm innocent civilians."

"Eastern Yemen has become a major source of threat to international navigation in the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea, following the escalation of the Iranian naval war," he said.

"According to these sources, the drones that collided with ships in the Gulf of Oman were launched by the Houthis in Yemen, or by mercenaries working for them," the website said.

"According to British sources, London has sent (commandos) troops to eastern Yemen to try to locate Iranian drone bombers," he said.

"About 40 British special forces soldiers have arrived in Yemen to carry out the mission," the Hebrew website was also quoted as saying by the British daily Express on August 8, 2021.

He told the Daily Express that forces including an electronic warfare unit and a suicide squad base in Yemen "will help Yemeni local forces hunt down Iranian drone bombers."

"The eastern region of Yemen has become a major source of threat to international shipping in the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea," the Hebrew website said.

"Iran has sent combat drones to its Houthi allies in Yemen, and satellite images indicate the presence of an Iranian 129th aircraft," he told Newsweek on January 14, 2021.

The U.S. newspaper's report was based on high-profile Israeli intelligence sources, and according to an Israeli expert, "the range of Iranian drones is 2,000 kilometers."

"These aircraft can strike Israeli, Saudi or U.S. targets, allowing the Iranians room to maneuver and deny," the source told the newspaper.

 

Israel and Saudi Arabia

"Pro-Iranian Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked Saudi Arabia with hundreds of precision drones during their war with the Arab alliance," said Yoni Ben Menachem, an Israeli security analyst at the Hebrew site.

"They are attacking Saudi cities, airports and oil installations using drones, and the biggest attack was on Saudi Aramco's facilities on September 14, 2019."

"Drones flying over distances of hundreds of kilometers had accurate target injuries and caused a lot of damage," said the Israeli analyst.

"In mid-October 2020, the senior official of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (Quds Corps), Hassan Erlo, who was appointed by the Houthis as Iran's ambassador to Them, arrived in Sanaa in a move of military and political significance."

"This is a new phase in Iranian activity after the assassination of (Quds Corps) commander Qassem Soleimani, as Tehran tries to increase its control over northern Yemen through its new ambassador," the analyst said.

"Hassan Erlo specializes in the production and launch of drones, ballistic missiles and the manufacture of anti-aircraft missiles, whose presence and activities in northern Yemen pose a threat to Saudi Arabia and Israel," he claimed.

"In December 2020, former U.S. President Donald Trump included Hassan Erlo on the list of terrorists," he said.

 

Western Anxiety

 "Israel and Western countries are concerned about Iran's transfer of drones and technological knowledge to the Houthis in Yemen," the Israeli analyst said in his article.

"The Houthis have officially denied that they are producing drones themselves," he said, claiming that "Western intelligence sources have conclusive evidence that they are Iranian production, including drones dismantled by the Houthis."

"Yemen has become a source of regional and international navigation threat in the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and this threat needs to be addressed urgently," he claimed.

"The locations of some airports in Yemen from which attacking drones operate are known to Western intelligence agencies, and must be pre-empted and attacked before they are used to launch further attacks," he said.