Russia will send supersonic Yakhont missiles to Yemen’s Houthi rebels under the mediation of Iran

Russia negotiates the shipment of dozens of Yakhont supersonic anti-ship missiles to the Houthi rebels of Yemen. It does so under the mediation of Iran. The information was revealed by the Reuters agency and is based on several sources who have knowledge of the conversations.

According to these sources, if the agreement is closed, the missiles Yakhont also known as P-800 Oniks will allow the Houthis allies of Iran attack commercial ships with greater precision in the Red Sea and increase the threat to American and European warships monitoring the area.

The news first broke in July, when the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia was considering sending the missiles to the Houthis; however, The news now is Iran’s intervention.

In August, when CNN reported that Russia backed down at the last minute and did not deliver the missiles to the Houthis said that this had occurred as a result of behind-the-scenes efforts by USA y Saudi Arabia to stop shipping.

The Saudis, who have been at war with the Houthis for years until 2022, they asked Russia Don’t put them together.

In January of this year, USA appointed the Houthis as a global terrorist organization, after this militia constantly attacked, with missiles and drones, commercial shipping in the Red Sea, causing the death of several sailors and hindering global trade.

In addition, they have sunk at least two ships and seized another.

The United States and the United Kingdom have also attacked positions of the Houthis in Yemen, but have failed to stop attacks in the Red Sea.

Los Houthis They are disrupting shipping in the Red Sea in support of Hamas in its war against Israel.

It is an organization allied with Iran. The Houthis are also considered proxies for the Islamic Republic, like Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in Gaza.

Iran has always denied arming the Houthis, even after transferring rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles and other weapons to the Yemeni militia using sea routes.

Why does Russia want to arm the Houthis?

The negotiation for the delivery of the missiles has resumed. Reuters reported that two regional officials with knowledge of the talks said that Houthis and Russians met in Tehran at least twice this yearand that talks to provide dozens of missiles were ongoing with more meetings expected in Tehran in the coming weeks.

Sputnik News, a Russian Government agency, describes the Yakhont o P-800 Oniks like the unstoppable missile that has changed the rules of the game in Ukraine.

He adds that they are designed to destroy ships and have a speed of between Mach 2 and 2.6 (depending on flight altitude). That is, they are capable of reaching a speed of more than 3,000 km per hour. Its maximum range is 300 kilometers.

It carries a warhead of 250 kilos of explosives has a length of 8.9 meters and can be launched from ships, submarines and airplanes.

He Yakhont It is considered one of the most advanced anti-ship missiles in the world, as it skims the sea surface at more than twice the speed of sound, making it difficult to detect and destroy.

“Its success is due to the fact that the projectile begins to fly at a high altitude and, as it approaches the target, it descends to 10-15 meters above the water level to hit the ship,” says Sputnik News.

Reuters recalled that Russia has already supplied the missile Yakhont a Hezbollah.

A source told Reuters the talks began under the Iranian president. Ebrahim Raisiwho died last May in a helicopter crash.

“Russia is negotiating with the Houthis the transfer of supersonic anti-ship missiles Yakhont“said a Western intelligence source. “The Iranians are mediating the negotiations, but they do not want their signature to be present in them.”

A U.S. Defense Department official told Reuters that any effort to bolster the capabilities of the Houthis “would undermine shared international interest in global freedom of navigation and stability in the Red Sea and the broader Middle East.”

But what is Russia looking for by arming the Houthis? Three sources told Reuters that Moscow’s motivation has to do with the possibility that Western states will decide to allow Ukraine use their weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory.

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyhas repeatedly asked the United States and its allies to authorize it to use long-range missiles to attack Russian territory.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putinwarned in June that Moscow could send advanced long-range weapons, similar to those the United States and its allies deliver to Ukraine, to the West’s adversaries around the world.

The alliance between Iran and Russia

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia and Iran have been strengthening their ties. Even the president Putin He traveled to Tehran in July 2022 and met with the then president Ebrahim Raisi and with the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In October 2022, Russian forces used drones Shahed-136 of Iranian manufacture in an attack in kyiv. These weapons have a range of more than 2,000 kilometers and can fly autonomously.

Tehran officially denied having supplied the drones to Russiabut US officials assured that the first shipment was made in August 2022, after the visit of Putin.

Additionally, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in 2022 that it was possible that a group of Iranians may have traveled to areas occupied by Russia in Ukraine to teach the Russian forces how to use the drones.

In the middle of this month, The United States affirmed that Iran would have transferred Fath 360 ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine.

For its part, the British media The Times, which cited Ukrainian intelligence sources, reported that Iran delivered more than 200 Fath-360 to Russia through a Caspian Sea port on September 4.

Russia denied having received weapons from abroad to fight in Ukraine and assured that its Armed Forces have an arsenal full of means to continue military operations