The Yemeni government, headed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, said Houthis threats to fire ballistic missiles against neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates present damming proof on an underlying Iranian agenda for destabilizing the region.
Houthi militias in Yemen are largely armed and funded by Iran.
Hadi, meeting with senior advisors and officials in Riyadh, reaffirmed that the government’s final objective is to bridge the divide tearing the country apart and end the armed insurgency. He also stressed the need to fight back against the establishment of a Hezbollah-inspired force in Yemen.
The president also reiterated the need for finding a political solution which is aligned with the Gulf initiative, outcomes of national dialogue and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Iran, for many years, has used its proxy militia, Hezbollah, in Lebanon to expand its influence in the region.
Ongoing Houthi threats equate an official rejection and denote the loss of all political efforts to resolve the crisis in Yemen, government spokesman Rajeh Badi told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“Such statements confirm that, for Houthis, the military option is the only viable one. And that vows made for peace by the group’s leader are merely to gain time,” Badi said.
Houthis made loud threats on its possessing of a stockpile of ballistic missile technologies capable of carrying out attacks on Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
Badi stressed Houthi statements “do not only compromise the Stockholm agreement (a UN-brokered truce agreement for Hodeidah inked last December), but also undermine the political process as a whole regardless whether it’s sponsored by the United Nations or any other party.
The heavy armament provided to Houthis, according to Badi, suggests that Iranian policy is pushing insurgents in Yemen to act as an “explosive belt” which, upon command, could detonate and catapult the region into chaos.
For such reasons, Houthis should be viewed as a terror group which has to be defeated for the sake of shoring up regional stability and security, Badi said.
“Threats (made by Houthis) serve a blow to the already fragile Stockholm agreement and to any peacemaking effort exerted by the UN special envoy to Yemen,” he warned.