Yemen's internationally recognised government has called on Lebanon to take coordinated, joint measures to halt Hezbollah's military assistance to the Houthi movement, in a statement by Foreign Minister Afrah Al-Zouba reported by the ANI news agency on Sunday, as the fallout from Yemen's allegation that Iranian and Hezbollah experts are directing Houthi operations widened into a diplomatic dispute between the two governments.

Source: ANI

In a post on X, Al-Zouba welcomed Lebanon's official stance upholding Yemen's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and called for institutional follow-up between the two countries' security bodies to dismantle what she described as the logistical and operational support the Iran-aligned Lebanese group provides to Houthi fighters, ANI reported.

Source: ANI

"We greatly appreciate the position of our brotherly Lebanon, at the leadership and government levels, in support of Yemen's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, and in rejection of any military intervention in its internal affairs," Al-Zouba said, according to ANI.

Source: ANI

The call follows Yemen's November 3 disclosure that its security agencies had identified 21 foreign experts — 14 from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and seven from Hezbollah — allegedly working directly with the Houthis. Awaaz Punjab reported that announcement, and the roles Yemen alleges for the experts, here: Yemen Says 21 IRGC and Hezbollah Experts Are Directing Houthi Operations

What Yemen alleges — and what has not been verified

Yemen's Interior Minister Ibrahim Haidan said on November 3 that the 21 experts were operating in Sanaa, Saada, Amran, Hajjah, Hodeidah and the coastal area of Al-Khawkhah, and accused them of overseeing military planning, command and control, missile and drone development, electronic warfare, weapons-smuggling networks and maritime operations, including the selection of commercial vessels as potential targets, according to Sheba Intelligence's account of the disclosure.

Source: Sheba Intelligence

Al-Zouba repeated the government's position in her X post: "We affirm the importance of building on this position through coordination between the relevant authorities in our two countries to follow up on our government's announcement regarding the role of Hezbollah members in supporting the military operations of the terrorist Houthi militia, and to take joint measures to halt this support and prevent its recurrence," she said, ANI reported.

Source: ANI

Beirut's answer: the state alone decides war and peace

Lebanon's leaders answered within a day. President Joseph Aoun held a telephone conversation on Wednesday with Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi, reaffirming Lebanon's support for Yemen's sovereignty, security and stability, Sheba Intelligence reported; the Lebanese presidency affirmed its rejection of interference by individuals or groups in Yemen's internal affairs.

Source: Sheba Intelligence

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, after meeting Aoun on November 4, condemned any Lebanese elements or groups intervening in the internal affairs of Arab countries through military activities — explicitly referencing the Yemeni government's announcement — and warned against dragging Lebanon into a new war. "We will not accept that a fate not of their choosing be imposed on the Lebanese, or that their homeland be turned once again into an arena for others' conflicts," Salam said, in remarks reported by ANI. "Decisions of war and peace lie exclusively in the hands of the state and its constitutional institutions."

Source: ANI

Hezbollah, meanwhile, denied on Wednesday that its experts were present in Yemen or involved in directing Houthi military operations, describing Interior Minister Haidan's accusations as baseless and insisting that Yemenis possess the military capabilities to defend themselves without outside intervention, Sheba Intelligence reported. The group also called for dialogue among Yemenis to resolve the conflict.

Source: Sheba Intelligence

Yemen takes the charge to Paris, Riyadh and the Security Council

Yemen's government has pushed the allegation beyond Beirut. Al-Zouba raised it at a press briefing in Paris on Wednesday, saying the 21 identified individuals were only part of a broader foreign network, and Yemen's Foreign Ministry called on the UN Security Council to halt transfers of weapons and expertise to the Houthis, Sheba Intelligence reported. In Riyadh, Presidential Leadership Council Chairman al-Alimi warned a senior German Foreign Ministry official that dozens of IRGC-linked experts were directly participating in planning and managing Houthi operations.

Source: Sheba Intelligence

Al-Zouba also reaffirmed, in the remarks ANI carried, Yemen's support for Lebanon's sovereignty and for the Lebanese state's efforts "to extend its authority over its entire territory and to retain exclusive control over weapons and decisions of war and peace" — the same state-monopoly principle Beirut's own leaders invoked in their response.

Source: ANI

What happens next: no joint Yemeni-Lebanese mechanism has been announced, and neither Lebanon's president nor its prime minister confirmed the identities or involvement of the seven alleged Hezbollah operatives. The allegations about the experts' identities, locations and roles have not been independently verified in full, and as of November 4 no new international sanctions targeting the named individuals had been announced, Sheba Intelligence noted. Middle East Eye also reported Al-Zouba's statement that Yemen and Lebanon would coordinate on measures to halt Hezbollah's support for the Houthis.

Source: Middle East Eye