A U.S. precision airstrike has killed 70 Houthi militants, including senior field commanders and Iranian experts from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Yemen’s Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Moammar Al-Eryani.
The strike, which took place on April 2, targeted a Houthi gathering south of the coastal area of Al-Fazah in Hodeida province. Al-Eryani stated that the location was being used to plan terrorist attacks against commercial vessels and oil tankers in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden—strategic waterways critical for international maritime trade.
According to Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani, the strike was part of a broader U.S. campaign of concentrated aerial operations over the past two weeks. These attacks targeted Houthi military facilities, fortifications, weapons depots, and air defense systems across multiple provinces and reportedly killed dozens of militants, including high-ranking commanders. However, casualty figures remain disputed.
#Iran News: Iranian Smugglers Arrested in Yemen for Alleged Ties to #Houthishttps://t.co/H9Acl7CLji
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Al-Eryani emphasized that the U.S. operations have caused widespread chaos among the ranks of the Houthi militants and Iranian advisors. Despite attempts by the Houthi leadership to obscure the extent of their losses through media blackouts and suppression of casualty reports, the damage inflicted by these operations has been substantial.
The Yemeni official stressed that the recent U.S. operations signify a marked escalation in the confrontation with the Houthi insurgents, delivering a strong message that threats to regional security and vital shipping lanes will be met with decisive action.
The Telegraph published a report on April 3, suggesting that the Iranian regime has made a strategic decision to gradually pull out its forces from Yemen. Analysts believe this move is partly due to increasing pressure from mounting casualties among its forces and the financial strain of maintaining proxy wars across the region.
How #Iran Sacrifices Its Proxies to Ensure Its Survivalhttps://t.co/BWGfRyzMSY
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On April 5, the IRGC-run Tasnim News Agency dismissed the reports of Iranian forces being killed in Yemen, calling it “false” and part of a psychological warfare campaign aimed at dragging the region into a wider conflict. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Tasnim stated: “The martyrdom of Iranian forces in Yemen following the U.S. attack is false. This fake news is part of psychological warfare aimed at pushing the region toward a broader war. Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that Ansarullah forces in Yemen are fighting the U.S. and Israel independently.” The Iranian regime has consistently denied any direct involvement in Yemen’s ongoing conflict despite evidence of its extensive support for the Houthi militia.