IRGC, Houthis Approve Operational Plan Against Saudi Arabia
Senior Houthi and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) figures have approved an operational plan for military action against Saudi Arabia, an intelligence source told Sheba Intelligence.
According to the source, the plan was discussed at a secret meeting chaired by senior Houthi military commander Abdulkhaliq Badreddine al-Houthi, known as Abu Younes, alongside a senior IRGC officer.
The meeting was held at a secure facility used to manage activities related to missile and drone operations, the source said.
More than 20 commanders, officers and specialists attended, including 14 Yemeni operational officers specializing in missile and drone launches. The remaining participants included IRGC experts specializing in missile and unmanned aerial systems.
The intelligence source said the meeting reviewed the operational plan, including preparations for military action targeting Saudi Arabia.
A Senior Commander at the Center of the Meeting
Abdulkhaliq al-Houthi is the brother of Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi and one of the group’s most influential military commanders.
He commands the Houthi-controlled Central Military Region and previously led reserve forces. He has also played senior operational roles on major fronts, including Marib.
His role in chairing the meeting gives additional significance to the reported discussions, particularly given the presence of an IRGC officer and specialists directly involved in missile and drone operations.
A Wider Three-Front Escalation
The latest intelligence comes against a broader pattern of military preparations previously documented by Sheba Intelligence.
On July 19, Sheba Intelligence revealed that a high-level meeting in Sanaa, overseen by Iran’s representative to the Houthi authorities, had approved full military readiness and identified three priority theaters for potential escalation: Marib–Al-Jawf, Taiz–Bab al-Mandab and Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia.
A month later, Sheba Intelligence reported that senior IRGC commander Abdul Reza Shahlai had met senior Houthi military leaders to discuss what intelligence sources described as a Tehran-backed plan for a new phase of the war. The discussions focused on Marib and its oil resources and an expanded western-coast campaign toward Bab al-Mandab, while missile and drone deployments near Saudi Arabia remained part of the wider military picture.
Developments since then have unfolded across the same theaters. Fighting and military preparations intensified around Marib and Al-Jawf, while the western-coast campaign expanded toward Mokha and Bab al-Mandab. A September 21 Sheba Intelligence report documented preparations for a new multi-axis Houthi offensive toward Marib and linked them to the earlier three-front escalation.
Attention has now increasingly shifted to the Saudi border front. On September 26, Sheba Intelligence reported that the Houthis had massed nearly 8,000 fighters and a large arsenal of weapons in northern Hajjah for a planned offensive on the Midi and Haradh fronts, with additional reinforcements still arriving. The planned operation would place pressure on the Midi sector along the Red Sea coast and the wider Haradh–Hayran–Bani Hassan sector closer to Saudi Arabia.
The newly obtained intelligence therefore adds another development to the pattern previously documented by Sheba Intelligence: senior Houthi and IRGC figures have now discussed and approved an operational plan directed against Saudi Arabia, according to an intelligence source, as Houthi forces simultaneously build up along the kingdom’s southern border.
