The Kremlin's plans to transfer missiles and other military equipment to the Houthis in Yemen indicate a growing military partnership between Moscow and Tehran.
Points of attention
- Plans to transfer weapons to the Yemeni Houthis testify to the growth of the military partnership between Moscow and Tehran.
- Russia can use Iranian proxies for indirect confrontation with the West.
- The US and Saudi Arabia are diplomatically opposed to Russia's plans to support the Houthis in Yemen.
- Russia's deepening partnership with Iran may encourage Moscow to support other Iranian puppets in the region.
The Kremlin deepens cooperation between the Russian Federation and Iran
According to analysts, Russia probably seeks to use Iranian proxies for indirect confrontation with the West and thus influence the decision-making process in the West.
On June 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that as a "symmetrical response" Russia would provide long-range weapons to unnamed entities to launch strikes on the West.
Russia's plans to support the Houthis in order to indirectly confront the West and threaten further escalation, which have been reported recently, are consistent with a number of Russian information and hybrid operations aimed at inducing the West to withdraw its support for Ukraine due to fears of a confrontation with Russia, analysts say ISW.
Analysts also note that Putin's willingness to consider supporting the Houthis in their attack on Israel and international shipping is part of deepening Russian-Iranian military cooperation and Russia's growing dependence on Iran for precision weapons and components .
It noted that Russia's deepening partnership with Iran is likely to prompt Russia to consider supporting other Iranian proxies and using these groups in other indirect attempts to threaten the West with escalation.
What preceded it
According to the journalists of the publication citing sources familiar with the situation, Saudi Arabia warned Russia against transferring weapons to the Houthis.
It is noted that US diplomats also took part in countering these plans of the aggressor country.
In particular, American diplomats appealed to Saudi Arabia to persuade Moscow not to do this.
One of the high-ranking American officials noted that the United States considers any attempt to transfer weapons to the Yemeni Houthis as a countermeasure to its own plans to settle the situation in the region.
It is emphasized that it is not entirely clear to US intelligence whether Saudi Arabia's opposition to Russia's plans to transfer weapons to the Houthis was decisive, or whether it was one of the factors that forced Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin to abandon such plans.
