Top Iranian expert killed in Yemen: government minister

An attack by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen has killed a top Iranian official and two colonels, according to Yemen's Minister of Information Moammar Al-Eryani. 

Friday's attack, which targeted Houthi military site in Marib, is believed to have killed nine in total, including the Iranian expert Haidar Sirjan. 

"This confirms the size and level of Iranian involvement and its destabilizing role in security and stability of Yemen," Al-Eryani said on Twitter.

Sirjan was just one of the hundreds of experts that have been sent by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Al-Eryani claimed, adding that they were there to assist in military operations lead by Houthi and to smuggle weapons, including drones and ballistic missiles, into the country.

1-Killing of Iranian expert Haider Sirjan, &9 others, including Musa Al-Quhazi &Ahmed Al-Sahari, y*day, by Coalition to Support Legitimacy air strike on Houthi militia sites in Serwah front,Marib, confirms level of Iran involvement &destabilizing role to Yemen security &stability

— معمر الإرياني (@ERYANIM) August 21, 2021

"Iranian expert Haidar Sirjan used to work in the field of training and rehabilitation, specializing in infantry and mountain infantry," Al-Eryani said.

"He is an expert in preparing tactical combat plans and worked as an expert on the fronts of the West Coast until June when was sent to the Marib fronts replacing Lebanese Hezbollah’s Mustafa al-Gharawi who was also killed," he added.

Al-Eryani went on to urge the international community, the UN, and the permanent member of the Security Council to stand up against Iranian interference in the affairs of Yemen. 

He accused Iran of "escalating military operations and undermining peace efforts" and judged them to be responsible for bloodshed and the exacerbation of humanitarian suffering of the  Yemeni people. 

Yemen's conflict flared in 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi-led intervention to prop up the internationally recognised government the following year. 

The fighting has killed tens of thousands and left some 80 percent of Yemenis dependent on aid, in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.