Iran Update April 7, 2025
Ria Reddy, Katherine Wells, Carolyn Moorman, Andie Parry, Siddhant Kishore, Ben Rezaei, Johanna Moore, Alexandra Braverman, George Ekmekjian, and Brian Carter
Information Cutoff: 2:00pm ET
The Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) publish the Iran Update, which provides insights into Iranian and Iranian-sponsored activities that undermine regional stability and threaten US forces and interests. CTP-ISW publishes the Iran Update every weekday.
Click here to see CTP and ISW’s interactive map of the ongoing opposition offensive in Syria and here to see CTP and ISW’s interactive map of Israeli ground operations. The Syria map is updated daily alongside the static Syria maps in this report. CTP-ISW ended daily maps of Israeli ground operations in February 2025.
We do not report in detail on war crimes because these activities are well-covered in Western media and do not directly affect the military operations we are assessing and forecasting. We utterly condemn violations of the laws of armed conflict and the Geneva Conventions and crimes against humanity even though we do not describe them in these reports.
Regional diplomatic sources told CNN on April 6 that the Yemeni government is preparing for a ground offensive against the Houthis. The offensive would reportedly consist of advances from the south and east and along the western Yemeni coast to take Hudaydah.[1] The Yemeni government is led by the Presidential Leadership Council, which is an eight-person council consisting of all major anti-Houthi factions in Yemen and led by President Rashad al Alimi.[2] An operation of this scale would require significant political coordination between multiple anti-Houthi factions with disparate political goals. Yemeni President Rashad al Alimi and Information Minister Muammar al Eryani both called for unity on April 7 and April 5, respectively.[3]
US Central Command (CENTCOM) has conducted at least 26 airstrikes targeting Houthi infrastructure and leadership in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen since April 4.[4] CENTCOM conducted an unspecified number of airstrikes, reportedly targeting a Houthi command and control site on 50th Street in Hudaydah City, Hudaydah Governorate.[5] CENTCOM conducted at least two airstrikes targeting a Houthi military base in Kahlan, east of Sadaa City, Sadaa Governorate, on April 4 and at least three airstrikes targeting the Houthi underground facilities at al Sabaha military complex on Jabal Awsad, north of Sanaa City, Sanaa Governorate, on April 6.[6] CENTCOM has previously targeted both Houthi military bases on March 27, April 2, and April 3.[7] CENTCOM also conducted at least nine airstrikes in two separate sorties targeting likely Houthi naval sites on Kamran Island, Hudaydah Governorate, on April 5 and 6.[8]
Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are likely running an information operation to dissuade the United States from striking militia targets in Iraq as part of a broader Iranian information campaign targeting the West. Iranian-backed Iraqi militia commanders from Kataib Hezbollah, Harkat Hezbollah al Nujaba, and Kataib Sayyid al Shuhada told Reuters on April 7 that Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are prepared to disarm to “make whatever decisions necessary” to avoid conflict with the United States and Israel.[9] The militia commanders said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) supports this decision. These statements are very similar to other articles quoting Iranian officials in recent days that seek to alter US decision-making ahead of a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iranian officials on April 3 told Western media that Iran is “abandoning” the Houthis without providing any evidence.
Iranian officials and Iranian partners are not making any claims about disarmament or decreases in Iranian support in Persian or Arabic language media, suggesting that these reports are part of a concerted information effort targeting a Western audience. Kataib Hezbollah, for example, denied that it is pre...
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