Direct proof of use
The Dehlaviyeh anti-tank guided missile appears in the 2014 Yemen Civil War record through interdicted supply to Houthi-aligned forces. The United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen inspected weapons seized from a stateless dhow in the Arabian Sea on November 25, 2019, and reported that the shipment included 21 anti-tank guided missiles likely to be the Iranian Dehlaviyeh version of the 9M133 Kornet.
A later United Kingdom submission to the United Nations documented a February 23, 2023 HMS Lancaster interdiction in the Gulf of Oman. The UK reported that the seized packages included Iranian versions of the Russian 9M133 Kornet, known in Iran as Dehlavieh, and assessed the consignment as being smuggled from Iran to the Houthis.
The available public evidence supports transfer and interdiction in the Yemen-war supply chain. It does not identify a confirmed Houthi battlefield launch of a Dehlaviyeh missile in Yemen.
Sources: UN Panel of Experts Yemen 2020, UK UNSCR 2231 Evidence Letter 2023, U.S. Navy HMS Lancaster Seizure
Timeline
On November 25, 2019, U.S. forces seized a dhow in the Arabian Sea carrying anti-tank guided missiles and other missile parts. The UN Panel later inspected the shipment and identified 21 ATGMs as likely Iranian Dehlaviyeh versions of the 9M133 Kornet.
On February 23, 2023, HMS Lancaster seized a small boat in the Gulf of Oman after U.S. airborne surveillance and Royal Navy tracking. U.S. Naval Forces Central Command reported that the vessel originated from Iran, carried Iranian Dehlavieh anti-tank guided missiles and missile components, and moved along a route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully to Yemen.
In 2024, the Defense Intelligence Agency placed Dehlaviyeh and Dehlaviyeh-2 launchers within a broader visual comparison of Iranian weapons interdicted en route to the Houthis. The DIA report described the Dehlaviyeh-2 as an Iranian-developed copy of the Kornet-EM and compared captured launcher components with Dehlaviyeh systems displayed in Iran.
Sources: UN Panel of Experts Yemen 2020, U.S. Navy HMS Lancaster Seizure, DIA Seized At Sea
Narrative
The Yemen evidence is best read as a maritime-supply and interdiction record rather than a confirmed combat-use record. The compact catalog row therefore assigns the weapon to Houthi-aligned forces as interdicted support, while keeping the operational caveat visible: sources document Dehlaviyeh-family missiles and launchers moving toward the Houthis, but do not show where or when a Dehlaviyeh was fired inside Yemen.
The 2019 UN Panel report placed the Dehlaviyeh-linked ATGMs in a larger pattern of Houthi forces receiving military support that included assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, anti-tank guided missiles, and more sophisticated missile systems. The Panel also described the 2019 seizure as evidence that sea transport continued to play a role in potential arms-embargo violations.
The 2023 HMS Lancaster case provided a second, more explicit Dehlaviyeh identification. The UK submission said initial inspection found Iranian versions of Kornet ATGMs known as Dehlavieh, while U.S. Navy reporting tied the same interdiction to a route used for Yemen-bound weapons trafficking and stated that transfer of weapons to the Houthis in Yemen violated the relevant UN embargo.
Sources: UN Panel of Experts Yemen 2020, UK UNSCR 2231 Evidence Letter 2023, U.S. Navy HMS Lancaster Seizure
