The head of Iran’s Basij sent a message congratulating the Yemeni rebel group, the Houthis, for their “resistance” against the nearly monthlong Saudi Arabian-led bombing campaign. The letter from Mohammad Reza Naghdi was addressed to Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, whom Nagdhi referred to as “the brave commander of Ansar Allah, brother warrior.” Naghdi called the end of the 28-day bombing campaign “a great victory” and “congratulated the champion nation of Yemen, especially you, the brave and wise leader.”

Naghdi wrote, “Without a doubt this brave resistance will be considered a turning point in the history of the region and the Islamic world and will have great transformations in the political geography of the world in favor of the oppressed.” He added, “Due to conditions, we did not have the honor to be alongside you in the front line and battle. We are ashamed and hope that we can make up for this in helping reconstruction and assistance.”

On April 21, Saudi Arabia announced the end of their military operations in Yemen, though they did say they would continue to target Houthi advances against Yemeni forces allied with Saudi Arabia. Nearly a thousand people died during the airstrikes and thousands more were wounded. Iran’s conservatives and hard-liners believe that despite comments from Saudi Arabia, the bombing campaign did not achieve its objectives but rather strengthened the Houthi position in Yemen against other rival groups.

Sadollah Zaeri, an Iranian analyst whose work often appears in the hard-line Kayhan newspaper, wrote an op-ed April 22 arguing that the Saudi Arabian bombing campaign had the opposite effect of what was intended. He wrote that despite the Houthis having access to missiles, they did not attack Saudi Arabia. Rather, they had an ally tribe on the border attack Saudi Arabia, inflicting heavy damages, as a “lesson.”