JERUSALEM – Despite the presence of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt off the coast of Yemen, the Iranians succeeded in smuggling Scud B and C missiles to the rebels fighting in Yemen, Jordanian security officials told WND.
The security officials described the possession of the missiles by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels as potentially game-changing and as a direct threat to the Saudi kingdom and its oil fields.
While the Scuds have not yet been used, the Shiite Houthi rebels on Tuesday already escalated tensions with the Saudis when they fired rockets into Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, killing at least three people.
The rocket attacks marked the first time the Houthis targeted a civilian area in Saudi Arabia since the Saudis and a larger Arab coalition commenced airstrikes against the rebels last month.
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The Jordanian officials said the Scuds, if utilized, could endanger Saudi Arabia and potentially disrupt the global oil market.
The rocket attacks came just as a U.S.-brokered humanitarian truce took effect Tuesday, the same day Iran reportedly dispatched what it describes as a cargo ship toward the Yemeni coast. Iran says its navy will protect the transport of the cargo ship.
Also on Tuesday, the Saudi-led alliance bombed Houthi positions in the southern port of Aden in the run up to the truce.
In a development that could escalate tensions in an already volatile region, WND reported last month the Russian navy has been aiding Iranian ships attempting to bring arms to the Tehran-backed rebels currently leading an insurgency in Yemen, according to informed Middle Eastern defense officials who spoke to WND.
The defense officials said at the time the Russian navy ships were attempting to maneuver to create a clear path for the Iranian vessels to bypass the U.S. fleet and arrive in Yemen.
The officials said Saudi Arabia, which backs the embattled Yemeni government, filed a complaint with Moscow about the purported Russian naval movements.
It was not immediately clear where the Russian navy was attempting such a maneuver.
According to reports, Russia’s navy last month docked in Yemen and helped to evacuate more than 650 people of different nationalities both by air and by sea. One Russian navy ship reportedly took in more than 308 evacuees last Sunday while about 350 more were moved via two Russian aircraft.