Western and regional sources claimed that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been covertly transferring arms, cash, and drugs to Houthi rebels in Yemen for the past six months, using smaller craft and routes further up the Gulf of Oman between Kuwait and Iraq to avoid scrutiny from international naval vessels on patrol. Western sources said that since March there has been an increase in suspicious activity involving Iranian-flagged ships in waters near Kuwait, and that these vessels often switch off their identification transponders in order to avoid detection, then rendezvous with other ships to transfer supplies. Iranian officials have confirmed the activity and acknowledge that it could not occur without IRGC involvement, while Kuwait has denied that Iran was using its waters to smuggle equipment to Houthi forces.