Iranian Revolutionary Guards: We asked Houthis to attack Saudi oil tankers

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander admitted that the Houthi attack that targeted the two Saudi oil tankers in Bab al-Mandeb Strait was carried out as per a request from the Revolutionary Guards.

According to the Iranian news agency Fars, the Revolutionary Guards Commander Nasser Shabani said: “We asked the Yemenis to attack the two Saudi oil tankers, so they did it.”

The Fars News Agency deleted the article, which is considered a blatant admission by Iran of supporting the Houthi militias, minutes after publishing it.

Shabani also said that the Houthi militias in Yemen and Lebanese Hezbollah militias “represented Iran’s depth in the region.”

Iran Houthis. (Screen grab)

The Arab Coalition supporting legitimacy in Yemen had announced on July 25 the abortion of a Houthi attack targeting two Saudi oil tankers in Bab al-Mandeb, opposite Yemen’s west coast.

Arab Coalition spokesman, Colonel Turki al-Maliki, had said that one of the oil tankers suffered minor damages before the intervention of the Arab Coalition’s naval forces.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, Khalid Al-Falih, had also announced the suspension of all shipments of Saudi crude oil through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

On August 4, Falih announced that Saudi Arabia would resume oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. He added that the decision was made after the Arab coalition had completed all necessary security procedures.