Yemen’s Information Minister: Iran’s Interest in Yemen Goes Beyond Internal Conflict
Yemen’s information minister criticized the “indifference” of the international community toward the Islamic Republic’s interference in Yemen and called for curbing the “sabotage activities” of the Iranian government.
Moammer al-Eryani said on Sunday, September 20, in a statement posted on Twitter: “The international community must take seriously the dangers of empowering another version of Hezbollah in Yemen, given its strategic importance.”
He warned that “Iran is arming the Houthis to weaken the country and control international trade and energy through the Red Sea.”
Al-Eryani also wrote for the American think tank “Atlantic Council” that “Iran’s goal in arming and financing Houthi militias is to gain control of Yemen and use it as a launching pad for attacks against neighboring countries and international maritime activities through the Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea.”
He emphasized that “the Iranian regime’s interest in Yemen goes beyond internal conflict in this country. Iran is also seeking to impose its influence over the south of the Arabian Peninsula and intensify its control over a 2,500-kilometer coastal strip along the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the strategic Strait of Bab al-Mandab, and the Indian Ocean.”
Yemen’s information minister warned that “allowing the Houthis—who are resisting ceasefire commitments through UN mediation and other peace efforts to end the war—to possess advanced weapons would be catastrophic for the world.”
He said: “This threat affects the flow of global trade in the Red Sea and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab, global energy security, and regional and international peace and security.”
This official of Yemen’s legitimate government also warned that “any tolerance” toward the Islamic Republic’s programs “will have serious consequences for the people of Yemen and the world.”
The release of these statements by the Yemeni official coincides with a visit by a spokesman for the Houthi movement to the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister to discuss recent developments in Yemen and ceasefire conditions in the country held in Tehran.
The ceasefire between the warring parties in Yemen, which was implemented through UN mediation, will end in mid-October. This ceasefire has been extended several times before, and the UN hopes to create conditions for a long-term ceasefire.
However, deep distrust prevails between the parties to Yemen’s war, and each has complaints about the implementation of the ceasefire.
According to IRNA’s report, Muhammad Abdulsalam, in his meeting with Iran’s foreign minister, accused the other side of “breach of faith” and “incomplete implementation of key ceasefire elements” and stated that “addressing the humanitarian issues of the Yemeni people is necessary for advancing any just peace in Yemen.”
Nevertheless, al-Eryani stressed in his statement that “easing tensions and a peaceful solution to Yemen’s crisis is not possible except with curbing Iran’s expansionist ambitions and interference in the region, not granting Iran more power by reviving the nuclear agreement, and holding the Iranian regime accountable and obtaining guarantees not only for regional security but for the world.”
