With Arms for Yemen Rebels, Iran Seeks Wider Mideast Role -- New York Times
WASHINGTON — In the past several months, Iran appears to have increased its political outreach and arms shipments to rebels and other political figures in Yemen as part of what American military and intelligence officials say is a widening Iranian effort to extend its influence across the greater Middle East.
Iranian smugglers backed by the Quds Force, an elite international operations unit within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, are using small boats to ship AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and other arms to replace older weapons used by the rebels, a senior American official said. Using intercepted cellphone conversations between the smugglers and Quds Force operatives provided by the Americans, the Yemeni and Indian coastal authorities have seized some shipments, according to the American official and a senior Indian official.
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Update: Iran backing Houthi rebels, U.S. claims -- UPI
My Comment: Yemen .... with its large Shiite population and dysfunctional government .... has all the ingredients .... like Hezbollah ha become in Lebanon .... of becoming another "client state within a state" for Iran.
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