A New Airstrip Has Been Spotted on an Yemeni Island
The airstrip is positioned on Abd al-Kuri Island which sits on a key waterway in the Gulf of Aden.
Images depicting a nearly completed airstrip on a remote island in Yemen have analysts worried. While the runway is likely built by the United Arab Emirates, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are active in the country and could exploit the new construction. As detailed by The Associated Press, the airstrip is positioned on Abd al-Kuri Island which sits on a key waterway. Due to its location, the airstrip could be used as a landing zone for military operations in the waterway or for commercial shipping purposes. Since the Houthis have ramped up their attacks targeting international vessels in the Red Sea, commercial and energy shipments in the region have halved. Although Abd al-Kuri sits within Houthi drone and missile range, the island’s distance from the mainland is large enough that the rebel group won’t be able to take control of it.
What we know about the airstrip
Israel and Hamas have recently entered a ceasefire in a war that has raged on since the Gaza-based terror group launched its October 7, 2023, massacre. Although fighting has quieted down in the enclave, the Houthis may not adhere to a cessation in their frequent barrages targeting vessels in the Red Sea. The rebel group typically carried out missile, rocket, and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks against ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. This strait represents a critical maritime chokepoint that links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. While the group has claimed it only targets vessels affiliated with Israel and the United States due to those countries’ war against Hamas in Gaza, they have been indiscriminate in the ships they strike.
An overview of Iran’s activity in the Red Sea
Tehran’s interest in Yemen dates back several decades, however, the regime’s involvement in the country really took hold in the mid-2000s. As Yemen became embroiled in domestic turmoil at this time, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps exploited the crisis to grow its influence. Similar to how Iran has entrenched itself in Lebanon and Gaza via proxy groups, the regime fully supports the Houthi rebels. In fact, this Yemen-based group receives training, funds and support directly from Tehran.
Since Tehran exploited the power vacuum in Yemen caused by the civil war, its contributions to these Yemen-based militants grew steadily to include the transfer of weapons. As detailed by War on the Rocks, “They assemble these parts into working weapons with technical assistance from Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps advisers. This approach has allowed the Houthis to now field short and long-range drones and an increasingly diversified fleet of missiles capable of striking deep inside Saudi Arabia.”
The Red Sea functions as an important smuggling route for Iran and the Houthis, making the construction of a new airstrip on the island even more noteworthy. The U.S. military has taken action to prevent these types of weapons transfers in the past. Last year, U.S. Navy SEALs took part in a seizure off the coast of Abd al-Kuri involving a traditional dhow vessel involved in illegal smuggling operations.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
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