TEHRAN – The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says it is ready to forge closer cooperation with Yemen’s Armed Forces. 

“The IRGC announces its full preparedness to reinforce spiritual and strategic bonds with Yemen’s Armed Forces to confront global hegemony and international Zionism,” said Major General Mohammad Pakpour in a message to Chief of the General Staff of the Yemeni Armed Forces Major General Yousef Hassan Al-Madani.

The top Iranian general also extended condolences on the martyrdom of general Muhammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari, general Al-Madani’s predecessor.

He said the late general’s lasting struggles in defending the dignity and territorial integrity of Yemen and successfully confronting Israel will go down in the history of Yemeni warriors.

Following a military aggression by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen in 2015, the Ansarullah movement and popular committees first brought different areas of Yemen under their control to confront the al-Qaeda terrorist group and the coalition forces. Later on, in cooperation with the Yemeni military, Ansarullah and popular forces launched numerous operations against Saudi Arabia. As strikes by the coalition forces intensified, Ansarullah used ballistic missiles against Saudi Arabia to stop attacks by the coalition troops.

Ansarullah has remained a popular entity in Yemen as it is also standing up to Israeli acts of aggression and has been able to develop missiles and munitions domestically despite the blockade on the country.

Shiite Ansarullah has close bonds with the Islamic Republic of Iran as they have common ground ideologically.

Iran says it supports Ansarullah as part of the Resistance front, but does not dictate anything to them, stressing that Ansarullah makes decisions and acts independently.

Recently, Yemen’s Ansarullah leader praised Iran for its unwavering support and sacrifices in defense of the Palestinian cause, citing the martyrdom of commanders and a recent U.S.-Israeli military aggression against the country.

In a televised address, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said that Iran sacrificed its commanders, including Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, on the path of supporting the Palestinian cause.

General Soleimani, an international hero and a key figure in the Axis of Resistance, was assassinated on January 3, 2020 in Baghdad in a drone strike authorized by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The Islamic republic of Iran with remarkable steadfastness in the face of all challenges and pressure that even led to war acted in support and defense of this front,” Houthi said, referring to a U.S.-Israeli aggression against the country in June.

Israel, he stressed, “suffered a disgraceful defeat in the 12-day war against Iran and received great and painful blows.”

Between June 13 and June 24, Israel and the US waged a deadly act of aggression against Iran, which came to a halt due to the Islamic Republic’s successful retaliatory operations. Houthi warned that the Israeli regime and the US, which is complicit in all crimes of the Zionist regime, “continue to be a danger” to the region.

Marking the first anniversary of the martyrdom of Yahya Sinwar, a prominent Palestinian leader, al-Houthi described him as “a symbol of Palestinian steadfastness and sacrifice in the path of God,” whose legacy of struggle and awareness “will remain an inspiration for generations.”