According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is suspected of planning a small arms deal with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants. Bout gained notoriety in 2005 after a movie called “Lord of War” was released, allegedly based on his life of selling weapons to clients in the Middle East, South America, and Africa. He was arrested in 2008 and imprisoned in the U.S., but was released in a prisoner exchange with Russia for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner almost two years ago.
The WSJ reports that Bout is believed to be in talks with the Houthi militia after they visited Moscow in August to negotiate the purchase of $10 million worth of automatic weapons. If the deal is finalized, it would be Bout’s first arms shipment since his release from prison. However, the deal does not include anti-ship or anti-air missiles that could pose a threat to the U.S. military‘s efforts to protect international shipping from Houthi attacks.
Reuters previously reported that Tehran, which has strengthened its ties with Moscow, has been mediating a deal for the supply of Russian supersonic Yakhont (Onyx) missiles to the Houthis. The Houthis, a Muslim political and religious group backed by Iran, have been designated as terrorists by the U.S. They have been involved in Yemen’s decade-long civil war and have recently begun attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel‘s military operation in the Gaza Strip.
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