Ansarullah (Houthi) Propaganda with More than a Little Assistance from Iran
Yemeni officials have indicated there may be more to the story than what the Americans are saying in public, without directly claiming responsibility for shooting down the fighter jet.
(22nd December 2024, Tehran Times)
Houthi Propaganda with More than a Little Assistance from Iran
Background
For some time now the United States and the United Kingdom assisted by others have been conducting aerial sorties against the Iranian-backed terrorist group Ansarullah or as they are better known, the Houthi’s. Houthis began striking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, also as part of the region-wide fallout from Israel’s war in Gaza which was instigated by Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups that attacked Israel on the 7th October 2023. Militant groups in multiple countries have cited the conflict as justification for attacks on and against Israel.
The Houthis to date have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in the past year. According to the IDF, the vast majority did not reach Israel or were intercepted by the military and Israeli allies in the region. In the Red Sea, the Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors.
The group has also carried out repeated missiles and drone attacks on some 100 merchant vessels attempting to traverse the Red Sea, forcing many carriers to avoid the key waterway and restricting global shipping. Therefore, hindering international shipping to the right to passage travelling through Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
The terrorist group have also claimed on numerous occasions to have attacked United States Navy (USN) military vessels with success. Something the USN have disagreed with.
Ansarullah and Tehran use the same style of propaganda in order to influence their followers and believers that they follow the correct path and are in the right in what they deem as terrorism which in truth is, the fight against the State of Israel and the United States o0f America.
The Iranian propaganda machine churns out its lies constantly and in all topics. There is never any ‘truth’ in what they spin as either fake news, lies or propaganda. If the theocratic revolutionary government was so truthful, why would they spin deceit and lies to stay in power? The Iranian population and those gullible enough to follow them are deceived on a daily basis.
Here are a just two incidents that recently occurred and where Iran assists its proxy to spin the lies that people have to read in a government-controlled news outlet.
Israel Attacked
On the 21st December 2024 a missile fired from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthi militia struck Israel’s commercial hub of Tel Aviv before dawn, wounding 16 people in the second such attack within days.
Israel’s military said it had failed to intercept the missile, which hit a district of Tel Aviv municipality, forcing many residents to leave their homes in the early hours of the 21st December 2024.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it used a ballistic missile directed at “a military target of the Israeli enemy.”
The Tehran Times propaganda announced; “Just two days after Israeli warplanes launched widespread deadly airstrikes on Yemen, the Ansarullah-led government followed through on its pledge to escalate its attacks on the Israeli regime in solidarity with Gaza.
Israeli media reported that a missile launched from Yemen struck Tel Aviv, causing significant damage and leading to dozens of Israelis being injured.
Palestinian resistance groups congratulate “heroic people of Yemen” for operation against “the Zionist entity” The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced on Saturday an Israeli military target in occupied Jaffa (Tel Aviv) was struck with a hypersonic missile named Palestine 2.
The Yemeni Forces clarified that the operation came as part of the fifth phase of support in the “Promised Conquest” battle.
The missile reportedly injured around 30 Israelis, according to the Israeli authority’s admission. The leader of the Ansarullah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, reaffirmed Yemen’s steadfast support for Palestine, emphasizing that it remains unwavering and impactful in “causing pain to the enemies and doubling their losses.”
He stated that "since the beginning of support for the Palestinian people, the Yemeni Armed Forces have launched 1,147 ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, in addition to targeting 211 enemy-linked ships.”
22nd December 2024
US conducted precision airstrikes on a Houthi missile storage facility and a command-and-control centre in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, according to a statement published late on the 21st December 2024 on X by US Central Command.
“CENTCOM forces conducted the deliberate strikes to disrupt and degrade Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden,” it added.
US forces also shot down multiple Houthi one way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) over the Red Sea.
United States Navy Aircraft Incident
On the 22nd December 2024 the Voice of America announced that two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea in an apparent "friendly fire" incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become, with ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area.
The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said.
"The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18," Central Command said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear how the Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly as ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.
On the night of the 21st/22nd December 2024 United States aircraft had conducted airstrikes that shook Sanaa, the capital of Yemen that the Houthis have held since 2014. Central Command described the strikes as targeting a "missile storage facility" and a "command-and-control facility," without elaborating.
The Tehran Times and Other Propaganda lets Step In
Tehran, Tehran Times: Amid the attacks on Yemen, a U.S. warplane was shot down. There are disputing viewpoints as to how a U.S. warplane was shot down over the Red Sea. According to a statement by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), an American warship “mistakenly shot down” a F/A-18 warplane as it was flying over the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.
One of the carrier’s escort ships, “mistakenly fired on and hit” the plane, the statement said. CENTCOM confirmed that two navy pilots were forced to eject “over the Red Sea early on December 22 after their F/A-18 was downed in what appears to be a friendly fire incident.”
The statement noted that the pilots managed to eject and survive, with one of them sustaining injuries. The “apparent case of friendly fire,” is being investigated, CENTCOM added.
Yemeni officials have indicated there may be more to the story than what the Americans are saying in public, without directly claiming responsibility for shooting down the fighter jet.
A member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, stated that “the U.S. Central Command will not disclose the truth about the downing of the American warplane.”
He added, “What the United States is doing may be a tactic to prevent further collapse in the morale of its soldiers.”
Islamic Students News Agency (ISNA)
Tehran, ISNA: According to a statement from the Yemeni military, an operation was carried out with eight cruise missiles and 17 drones. The operation led to several key outcomes:
First; the Yemeni forces successfully shot down an F-18 aircraft, while enemy destroyers attempted to confront the Yemeni drones and missiles launched against the aircraft carrier simultaneous to the US-UK aggression against the country.
Second; the statement noted, most of the hostile aircraft retreated from Yemeni airspace to international waters in the Red Sea in an effort to defend the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman, which was being targeted.
Third; the attack launched by the coalition on Yemeni territory failed, and the Yemeni Armed Forces marked a crucial defeat for the aggressors.
Fourth; the USS Harry S. Truman, after being subjected to multiple attacks from the missile force, naval forces, and air force, withdrew from its previous location in the Red Sea towards the northern waters.
Islamic Republic News Agency (ISNA)
Tehran, ISNA: The spokesman for the Yemeni government and information minister has said that the downing of a US fighter jet over the Red Sea following the attack on Sana’a was not a coincident but was an incident that showed the decisive power of the Yemeni people.
Hashem Ahmed Abdul-Rahman Sharaf al-Din, in an interview with Saba news agency on Sunday, also said that the continued escape of American aircraft carriers to get away from Yemen, due to constant attacks by armed forces, is a sufficient message to anyone who is thinking of attacking the Yemeni people.
Our successive victories against the US, the UK and the Israeli regime, prove to the world that any aggression against the Yemeni people will not go unpunished, the minister added.
Hashem Sharaf al-Din restarted solidarity with the Palestinians and said: “We assure the world that under the leadership of Abdul-Malik Badreddine al-Houthi, we will continue to defend our land and dignity as well as support the oppressed people of Palestine”.
It is worth noting that earlier, the US Armed Forces had claimed that a US Navy F/A-18 fighter jet was shot down by friendly fire over the Red Sea.
Conclusion
The Islamic Republic of Iran has lost a number of their proxy groups in the conflict against Israel. They are now having to find other propaganda outlets in order to mislead those who blindly follow the dictatorship that sits in Tehran. When it comes to the Levant Iran can only claim that their defeated proxies are strong which really, they are not, they are defeated and unable to carryout strikes that damage Israel. The Iraqi PMF proxy group is nothing more than an irritation and in reality, has done nothing actively against Israel.
The Iranian-backed and funded terrorist group Ansarullah or the Houthis are able to continue the attacks on Israel and give much needed propaganda against the United States and the State of Israel. When either of those countries, along with others, attack the rebel group in Yemen they are very successful. Iran cat allow the attacks to be seen as success as it would undermine Iran more.
The unfortunate downing of the American military aircraft has given those who write the propaganda for both Iran and the Houthis a gift. They are able to build a story that those who follow cannot verify. In that story they are able to weave secrets that the reader can interpretate therefore believing that there is more to the report than is being admitted by the Americans. Thus, the report gives the impression that what Iran says about the Americans being liars and deceitful is correct.
When looking at Iranian propaganda for their home use and the propaganda that is used for example in the stories from the Houthis there is very little difference when it comes to the wording and paragraph make up. Whoever writes the reports for the Tehran government also writes the reports that the Houthis have allegedly said.
It also makes you wonder if the Houthi’s (in these cases) have actually said what has been published and that it is not Iran that is using the platform of Yemen to peddle its own version of events.
There is always something to remember when reading news reports in the Iranian press. First off, they are controlled by the government. Secondly, take a pinch of salt. Now remove one grain from the pinch. That one grain represents the truth in Iranian news reports.
Paul Ashley