Study: Iran used Al-Shabaab movement to smuggle arms to Houthis
The US military's Africa Command
(Africom) said in a statement it had carried out airstrikes targeting Al-Shabaab
movement in Somalia. The first airstrike killed 34 militants, and the second
killed 28 others near Mogadishu, according to the statement.
Iraqi researcher Firas Elias said in
a study titled "Iran and the Somali Al-Shabaab Movement: Exchange of Roles
and Interests" that Iran used the Horn of Africa to smuggle arms to the
Houthi militias in Yemen.
Elias said Iran has maintained
strategic ties with militant groups since 1979 to influence and control a
number of regional and international balances of power in the Middle East.
Apparently, Iran's desire has gone
beyond its political and security support to certain movements such as
Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood. Iran has extended its support to other
movements, which are classified as security enemies.
Here we speak of the relations
between Iran and al-Qaeda, as well as other groups including the Somali Al-Shabaab
movement.
Al-Shabaab movement was founded in
2004 right after it left the Islamic Courts Union. The movement has adopted a
radical policy due to its jihadi Salafist roots. The intellectual links between
the founders of Salafi Jihadism -- Sayyid Qutb and Abdullah Azzam – Iran’s
Khomeini revolution have made Iran use Al-Shabaab movement as a tool to carry
out its regional strategy.
Iran aims at opening new opportunities
for investment and money laundering for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and
smuggling arms and military equipment to the Houthi militias in Yemen through
the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Iranian navy considers the Red
Sea an important area to exploit for providing the Houthis with logistics and threaten
the international interests in the region.
To this end, Iran has taken
advantage of Al-Shabaab movement to realize its strategic objectives. UN
reports say that Iran is exploiting Al-Shabaab movement in its terrorist operations.
The researcher revealed that Iran
has been interested in the Horn of Africa, and that’s why it has approached
Al-Shabaab movement to set a foothold in this region, especially Eritrea and
Djibouti. The objective is to influence the Saudi and Israeli roles there.
Elias has asserted in his study that
the movement is one of the largest suppliers of uranium to Iran as it controls many
of uranium mines in Somalia. Somali Foreign Minister Yusuf Omar sent a letter
to the US ambassador in Mogadishu -- Stephen Schwartz – stating that Al-Shabaab
movement supplies 10 percent of Iran's uranium needs for its nuclear program.
Undoubtedly, Iran is fully aware of
the movement’s strategic role in the security of the Horn of Africa and East
Africa. There has been Saudi and UAE drives towards this area. That would scale
up the movement’s role as set by Iran’s strategy.
Iran’s drive to Africa has gained significant
momentum since the 1990s, ushering in security ties with many militant groups
in this region. For instance, Iran has used the Zakzaki group in Nigeria, as
well as its operations in other African countries like Senegal and Mali.
Iran sponsors tens of militias in
the Middle East. That proves the Houthis’ defeat which is a blow to the
Khomeini’s regime.
