Iran: envoy to Houthis ‘dies in Saudi-led coalition strike’ 

The Iranian envoy to the Houthis in Yemen, Hassan Irlu, has died in a hospital in Iran, where he was transferred following an air strike launched by the Saudi-led Arab coalition, the Iranian opposition Kayhan newspaper has reported. There has been some uncertainty about Irlu’s situation over the past few days.

Earlier, Iranian media outlets reported that Irlu had tested positive for Covid-19 in Yemen and left the country for treatment. Later on Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that Irlu had died of Covid-19.

However, the London-based newspaper quoted what it called “well-informed” sources as saying that Irlu had been wounded in a coalition air strike on a Houthi site. It described as false the reports that he had left Yemen for treatment due to being infected with the coronavirus.

Referring to his military status, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Irlu “was a long-time victim of the war that broke out between Iran and Iraq in 1980, and among those affected by chemical weapons.”

Irlu arrived in Yemen secretly last year. He appeared in public in October 2020, when Tehran announced his appointment as its ambassador to the Houthi-led government. Last year, the US imposed sanctions on him for his role in coordinating cooperation between the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Houthis.

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