The public appearance of Iran's envoy to the Houthi group, Ali Mohammad Rezaei, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa sparked a wave of controversy after his absence from the scene since late 2024, following days after the arrival of an Iranian Mahan Air plane to Sanaa airport from Tehran, a step described by the Yemeni government as 'a dangerous escalation' and 'a blatant violation of Yemeni sovereignty.'

Rezaei's appearance comes at a time when accusations against Tehran of strengthening its support for the Houthi group are escalating, amid assessments that see the Iranian role in Yemen exceeding the diplomatic framework into security and military dimensions.

Meanwhile, Houthi and Iranian media confirmed that Rezaei held a meeting with the acting head of the internationally unrecognized Houthi government, Mohammed Miftah, in his first high-level meeting since arriving in Sanaa on the third of this July aboard the Iranian plane. The Yemeni government had accused that flight of transporting Iranian experts and leaders, in addition to weapons and military equipment, to areas under Houthi control.

According to the Houthi-affiliated version of the Saba news agency, Rezaei affirmed during the meeting the continuation of Iran's support for the group, while the Houthi official stressed his group's standing alongside Tehran.

Rezaei had made his first appearance in Sanaa after his arrival during a meeting with the acting foreign minister of the internationally unrecognized Houthi government, Abdul Wahed Abu Ras, the day after the Iranian plane landed at Sanaa airport, a step that refocused attention on the nature of the Iranian presence in areas under the group's control.

Missing since 2024

Meanwhile, Yemeni journalist specializing in Houthi group affairs, Adnan al-Jubairi, said that Rezaei reappeared in Sanaa after his disappearance since November 2024, suggesting that he arrived on the recent Iranian plane, noting previous information about his departure from Sanaa last year along with Revolutionary Guard experts and his later return to Tehran, which, in his view, reinforces the ambiguity surrounding his movements and role inside Yemen.

For his part, political activist Mohammed al-Shammasi considered that Rezaei's appearance represents a reaffirmation of what he described as the 'Iranian military governor and Revolutionary Guard officer in Sanaa,' explaining that the coincidence between his appearance and the landing of an Iranian plane at Sanaa International Airport raises questions about the nature of coordination between the two sides.

A trip that was not 'humanitarian'

According to official statements from the Yemeni government, the recent Iranian flight to Sanaa was not humanitarian, but rather carried personnel and experts linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The Iranian regime had appointed in August 2024 Revolutionary Guard commander Ali Mohammad Rezaei as its ambassador to the Houthis in Sanaa, making it the only country with an ambassador dealing with the Houthi group, after the death of its previous ambassador to Sanaa, Hassan Erlu, in December 2021. At the time, it was rumored that he was killed in an airstrike, while other explanations attribute his death to the coronavirus.

Observers, according to the local news website 'News Yemen,' see that Rezaei's return to the forefront in Sanaa reflects a new phase of reorganizing Iranian influence in Yemen, especially in light of the political and security pressures facing Tehran regionally. They point out that Yemen has become a central arena in the calculations of regional influence, where the military dimension intersects with the political, amid the continuation of the war and the faltering of settlement efforts, making the scene likely to witness further escalation and complexity in the coming period.

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