The
last thing Saudi Arabia and its Western allies want is a
self-sustaining, economically viable, militarily strong, and
anti-imperialist Yemen at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula,
controlling the Red Sea and its strategic waterways. Yemen’s
geographic placement in regards to the flow of world capital cannot
be stressed enough.
by
Randi Nord
Part
7 - Responding to accusations of Iranian influence in Yemen
The
accusation of Iran’s supporting of Ansarullah in Yemen serves a few
purposes that benefit Saudi Arabia and Western powers. Not only does
it publicly justify foreign intervention in Yemen, but al-Houthi says
it also helps improve Riyadh’s public image.
“The
Saudi regime is working day and night to improve its image in order
to avoid extradition of the perpetrators of the events of September
11 and to draw attention away from its crimes and terrorism acts
against all the people in the region and the Yemeni people in
particular. This is also to deceive the world so they forget its
crimes and terrorism. They, by their stupidity, are trying to
attribute or make the aggression against Yemen as a war on Iran!”
If Saudi
Arabia wants to wage a war with Iran as it claims, al-Houthi suggests
it simply travel the short distance to Iran and do it itself: “There
is only a few kilometers between them and they can reach the nearest
point where the Iranians are present. They lie and mislead the world
that they came to Yemen to fight the Iranians, while they do business
with them, address them, receive their officials, and they have trade
relations with Iran, as it known to everyone. They also have close
borders with Iran, yet they haven’t made any military acts against
it! What they say and what they do in Yemen are two different
things.”
Al-Houthi
is referring to Saudi Arabia’s inflammatory rhetoric that suggests
they are directly at war with Iran inside Yemen.
In
November of last year, Ansarullah launched a domestically produced
long-range missile at the King Khalid Airport near Riyadh. Speaking
to CNN, Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir claimed the missile
was actually launched by Hezbollah in Yemen. “It was an Iranian
missile, launched by Hezbollah, from territory occupied by the
Houthis in Yemen,” al-Jubeir said, continuing: “We see
this as an act of war; Iran cannot lob missiles at Saudi cities and
towns and expect us not to take steps.”
Neither
Hezbollah nor Iran have troops in Yemen.
Al-Houthi
also reiterates that the coalition uses these lies about Iran to
justify its illegal invasion and destruction of his country: “They
know that the resolution (No. 2216) they are pushing today — by
calling for its acceptance in order to stop the aggression — was
decided 20 days after beginning their aggression against us. The
Security Council did not condone them committing massacres against
the Yemeni people and this aggression is not justified: there is no
justification to it. What America, Saudi Arabia, and its allies in
Yemen are doing is so far away from international legitimacy and the
United Nations’ charters.”
In 2015,
UNSC resolution 2216 initiated the first round of sanctions against
prominent members of the Ansarullah movement along with an asset
freeze and travel ban. It also demanded “all parties immediately
and unconditionally end violence” while commanding Ansarullah
to relinquish all territory under its control and abide by the Gulf
Cooperation Council initiative, which grants full political power to
the so-called internationally recognized Hadi government.
Although
the resolution requires “all parties” to end violence
“immediately and unconditionally,” Saudi Arabia and its
allies clearly haven’t held up this standard — and yet they
demand that Ansarullah do so.
Last
month, the UNSC met to vote on another resolution, drafted by the
United Kingdom, blaming Iran for supporting “terrorist activities”
in Yemen for allegedly violating the arms embargo. The measure did
not pass, however, thanks to a veto from Russia. But the UNSC did
unanimously adopt Russia’s counter-resolution, which continues the
devastating sanctions against Yemen with Iran’s name removed. This
resolution essentially upholds all previous UN actions concerning the
war in Yemen, which include an asset freeze, travel ban, and
sanctions.
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