PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 23rd, 2026: Iran Directed the Houthi Offensive & Hackers Claim FBI Breach

Mike Baker (0:12)

It's Wednesday, the 23rd of September. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the Houthis swept down Yemen's Red Sea coast in less than 48 hours. Now, new reporting says Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors were helping direct the offensive. Later in the show, a notorious hacking group claims that it breached the FBI and stole sensitive information on current and former Bureau employees. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

Now, if you're a regular PDB listener, and I certainly hope you are, this news will not surprise you. Iranian Revolutionary Guard advisors, the IRGC, were reportedly on the ground in Yemen helping direct the Houthi offensive that swept down the Red Sea coast earlier this month. According to a new investigation from the Associated Press, Iranian advisors helped plan tactical maneuvers, worked with frontline commanders, and assisted with communications and satellite intelligence as the Houthis advanced roughly 75 miles in less than 48 hours. One senior Houthi official told the AP that the Iranian advisors were quote, present at all levels. Now, Iranian support for the Houthis is obviously nothing new. Tehran has supplied the group with weapons and training, drones, missiles and technical support for years. The AP says it spoke with 10 officials and soldiers reconstructing the offensive, including a senior Houthi official, regional officials, Yemeni military commanders, and a member of Yemen's ruling presidential council. Many of those sources spoke anonymously. Iran's mission to the UN did not respond to the AP's request for comment. Well, that's shocking. But if this reporting is accurate, it gives us our clearest picture yet of just how directly Iran was involved in one of the Houthi's most successful military operations in years. And it helps explain how that offensive moves so quickly. In less than 48 hours, the Houthis advanced roughly 75 miles along Yemen's Red Sea coast. They captured the port city of Moqa, seized strategic islands near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and sent Saudi-backed Yemeni forces into retreat.

According to the AP, Iran had been steadily increasing its support well before the offensive began. Last year, Tehran reportedly expanded training and logistical assistance involving more advanced missiles, drones and unmanned attack boats.

Then in July, something interesting happened. The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of striking the airport in Sana'a in an apparent attempt to stop an incoming flight from Tehran. Now, that aircraft eventually landed. According to the AP's sources, it was carrying additional Revolutionary Guard advisors who joined other Iranian personnel and Hezbollah advisors already operating inside Yemen. Hezbollah, of course, is another Iranian proxy group. By early August, the Houthis were beginning to increase their attacks against government forces. And by September, the Iranian role had reportedly expanded significantly.

That brings us to the battlefield. The strongest Saudi-backed force along the Red Sea coast was the National Resistance, which had roughly 30,000 fighters. Its spokesman says that in the month before the breakthrough, Houthi forces hit its position with 130 ballistic missiles and 145 suicide drones. Those numbers have not been independently verified. But the more interesting part of the AP reporting involves intelligence. The Houthis apparently penetrated the National Resistance's internal communications. That reportedly allowed them to monitor troop movements, follow conversations between commanders, and exploit confusion inside the Saudi-backed coalition. According to the reporting, Iranian advisors were helping analyze communications and satellite intelligence, capabilities that the Houthis had previously lacked. At the same time, the forces opposing them were deeply divided. The National Resistance and another major militia, the Giants Brigade, had a long-running rivalry, and there was no unified command. When the Houthis broke through the mountains south toward Moqa on the 9th of September, those divisions became critical. The Houthis seized a strategic road and a nearby military base, cutting supply lines into the city. The head of the National Resistance, Lieutenant General Tariq Saleh, fled and eventually took refuge in Saudi Arabia. And then came the collapse. Retreating troops began pouring back toward Moqa, and forces already stationed inside the city apparently interpreted that movement as a sign that a major Houthi assault was imminent. Panic spread, thousands of civilians fled as well, and when Houthi forces entered Moqa early the next morning, the AP says that they encountered remarkably little resistance. One Houthi official described the city as essentially empty.

Now, there's another question hanging over all of this. Where were the Saudis? A senior Yemeni military official told the AP that government forces were stunned that Saudi aircraft did not strike the advancing Houthis. Saudi Arabia has not publicly explained why. Riyadh may have been reluctant to escalate further. The speed of the collapse may have caught commanders off guard. The fractured command structure among Yemeni forces may have complicated intervention. At this stage, it's just not clear. But what we do know is the result. The Houthis now control a much larger stretch of Yemen's Red Sea coastline. They've captured weapons, vehicles and ammunition. And they control strategic territory near one of the world's most important shipping lanes. And they did that with the direct support and guidance of the Iranian regime.