A dissident group has exposed Iran's military supply line to Houthi terrorists.

An Iranian resistance group has obtained evidence that high-ranking regime officials are directly supporting the Houthis in their attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) provided evidence to Planet Chronicle Digital that shows the Iranian-backed terror proxy in Yemen is being supplied by Tehran. Since October 7th, the Houthis have carried out over 50 attacks against ships traveling through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The MEK discovered that the IRGC-QF employs various methods and locations to transport an array of weapons, including drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, anti-ship mines, radar equipment, and communication systems, to the Houthis. Some of the missiles in the Houthis' possession were manufactured by the Aerospace Industries Organization, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.

The DIA report from February 2024 reveals that Iran is supporting Houthi proxies through comparisons of Houthi and Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles and missile systems. Both countries possess the Iranian Shahab-3 ballistic missile, which the Houthis refer to as the "Toofan."

The Houthis' weapons inventory includes Iranian missiles that have been used to target Israel, according to a DIA report. The report also reveals the remains of what is believed to be a Paveh land-attack cruise missile, known as the "Quds-4," which was fired by the Houthis toward Israel in late October 2023.

The Houthis attempted to target Israel directly on Oct. 19, following Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attacks, according to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. On March 18, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that a Houthi cruise missile had infiltrated Israel and landed near Eilat.

The Israel Defense Forces declined to provide information on the number of times the Houthis have attempted to attack Israel since October 7th, as well as whether they have utilized Iranian weaponry in these attacks.

The Houthis, despite being the newest member of the "Axis of Resistance," have the most advanced long-range capabilities of Iran's proxy groups, according to Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Taleblu explained that the Houthis' possession of capabilities like medium-range ballistic missiles or anti-ship ballistic missiles indicates the future operations that Iran envisions for this force.

The Houthis' recent actions led to the U.S. Treasury Department redesignating them as a Specially Designated Terror Group in February 2024, after they had been removed from the list in February 2021.

The MEK reported to Planet Chronicle Digital that the IRGC-QF utilizes various methods to transport military supplies to Yemen. According to the MEK, the IRGC has put pressure on local barge owners to transport weapons to Houthi boats that are 10 miles off the coast of Yemen. Additionally, the MEK stated that Iran may make stopovers in African countries before shipping materials to Yemen.

According to the report, Iran occasionally conceals weapons within fenders, which are large shock absorbers that prevent ships from striking piers and other obstacles. On certain occasions, the MEK reported that fenders were anchored beneath the water surface at a designated location and retrieved by a secondary ship equipped with built-in GPS.

On Aug. 13, 2019, the MEK claimed that fenders "up to six meters long were attached to a ship at Bushehr wharf two days before departure" to Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf. The MEK stated that "military weapons and equipment were concealed inside these fenders," but the group had no information about the cargo's final destination.

On May 27, 2020, the MEK reported that Yemenis crewed a barge carrying light weapons from a location near Jask port. Additionally, the MEK noted that the Bahman Piers, a set of about 80 or 90 secretive ports built along the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, remain outside the monitoring of international organizations. The MEK stated that these piers are used to smuggle oil and petrochemicals and ship out weapons to proxies, including the Houthis.

The MEK not only provided weapons to the Houthis but also trained them to use high-tech weaponry, resulting in the Houthis becoming a conventional military force with the help of Iran.

In a February interview with CBS, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of CENTCOM, revealed that IRGC personnel are working alongside the Houthis in Yemen, offering guidance and supplying target information.

Taleblu has observed evidence that Yemen has been used as a testing ground for Iranian weapons, including a case where the Houthis displayed a medium-range ballistic missile with a unitary conical warhead months before the Iranians added it to their arsenal.

The involvement of high-ranking Iranian leaders in maintaining Iranian-Houthi relations makes it difficult to hinder support to the Houthis, according to the MEK. The senior IRGC-QF commander, Brig. Gen. Abdul Reza Shahlai, also known as "Haj Yusuf," is responsible for coordinating with the Houthis. He is assisted by Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh, also known as "Abu Baqer," and Abu Fatemeh.

The MEK claims that the Iranian Foreign Ministry has a headquarters that reviews and analyzes the effects of Houthi attacks, while the IRGC Maj. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya command headquarters, is responsible for military affairs in Yemen. The MEK also alleges that Iran's National Security Council sets the guidelines for Yemeni intervention and escalation, and that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is ultimately responsible for finalizing and approving decisions regarding political and military affairs in Yemen.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on Khamenei, Shahlai, Qaani, Fallahzadeh, and Rashid. The Department of Justice has offered a $15 million reward for information about Shahlai's role in plotting the assassination of the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C., and his role in planning an attack in Iraq in which five U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded.

The US Treasury Department has intensified its sanctions against Iran due to its involvement in funding terrorism in the Middle East. In April, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen announced that the department had targeted over 600 individuals and entities linked to Iran's terrorist activities, human rights abuses, and financing of Hamas, the Houthis, Hizballah, and Iraqi militia groups.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a robust system for raising funds, which makes it challenging to thwart its efforts. According to Taleblu, Iran can scale up its material support over time through direct financial transfers, money laundering schemes, illicit revenue, and a nontraditional system of sending remittances that uses front companies and exchange houses across multiple countries. As a result, Iran can fund terrorism and engage in illicit financial trade across the region while under sanctions.

Ali Safavi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCRI based in Paris, urged the international community to hold the IRGC-QF accountable for using the Houthis to destabilize the region. Safavi stated that designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity, as the US did in 2019, would significantly impede the IRGC's ability to use front companies to evade sanctions and fund its malign activities and proxies. Additionally, it would hinder the operations of its agents in the West. Most importantly, Safavi said that it would convey a powerful message to the Iranian people: the main force responsible for suppressing their uprisings is recognized globally as a terrorist entity, thereby legitimizing their resistance against it.

According to Taleblu, Iran's relationship with the Houthis is crucial in its strategy to harm Israel. The proxy has created another pressure point against Israel, forcing Israel to expand its layered air and missile defense assets to protect its country. This financial and military pressure would ultimately reduce the political space for Israel to achieve its military goal of destroying Hamas. Taleblu also stated that this would create the political conditions for a growing distance between America and Israel.

Taleblu says that Iran sees "the strategy is working" and predicts "more weapons proliferation across the region, not less."

THE Associated Press contributed to this report.