Key Takeaways:

• Yemen’s al Houthis are strengthening their ties to Iran. They signed an agreement with Iran to open up direct flights between their capitals run by Iranian Mahan Air and Yemenia Airways. Mahan Air was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2011 for facilitating the movement of IRGC Qods Force officials and Lebanese Hezbollah members. Two Mahan Air flights have already landed in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital.
• Iran’s IRGC Qods Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani played a prominent role in the start of the counter-ISIS campaign in Tikrit, Iraq. Separately, IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Hamedani claimed that interfaith groups, called “Keshab,” were formed in Syria to strengthen unity among Alawites, Christians, and Sunnis and to promote the Islamic Republic’s revolutionary values.
• The Tunisian military launched a large counterterrorism operation against the Ansar al Sharia Tunisia-linked Uqba Ibn Nafaa Brigade positions in the mountainous Kasserine region near the Algerian border. The conflict in Tunisia has been low-level, but appears to be escalating.