Yemeni government forces claim they killed four Iranian experts in airstrikes on a missile factory in Taiz

Yemen’s internationally recognized government’s army claims it killed four Iranian experts in “precise” airstrikes on a missile production factory in Taiz province, as Al Jazeera reports in its war liveblog. The announcement was made Sunday evening by the spokesman of the Yemeni armed forces, Brigadier General Majeed Abdullah al-Nuzaili, in a post on the X platform.

According to al-Nuzaili, the strikes hit a facility where the Iranian experts were working on developing weapons and missile systems. There is no independent confirmation of the claim so far, and neither the Houthis nor the Iranian authorities have publicly reacted to the announcement yet.

Yemeni soldiers (illustrative photo).

The claim comes amid an escalation of fighting in Taiz province, where Yemeni government forces have launched an air and ground offensive against Houthi positions. The Yemeni government has repeatedly accused the Houthis of using Iranian technology and expertise in their missile program — an accusation Tehran has repeatedly denied.

If confirmed, the killing of Iranian personnel in Yemen would mark a significant development in the broader U.S.-Iran war, in which Yemen has become one of the most active fronts: the Houthis have threatened to strike American assets if Washington joins the fighting directly, while the U.S. has reiterated its support for the Yemeni government against what it calls “Houthi aggression.”