Yemeni president: Houthis threats to KSA, UAE proof on Iran's terror agenda
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.