Alwaght- Yemen's developments in recent months have proved the military and political upper hand of Ansarullah over the Saudi-Emirati Arab coalition, motivating the Sana'a-based National Salvation Government (NSG) to take advantage of the enemy's weak position to wrest concessions especially in the ceasefire extension case. Forcing Saudi regime to release Yemeni captives under a swap deal last week was one example of successful pursuit of pressure policy by Ansarullah.
As part of this policy, on Friday Ansarullah launched a warning drone strike on Al-Dhaba oil terminal in Saudi-held Hadhramaut province in eastern Yemen. This attack was carried out when a giant oil tanker entered the port to transfer two million barrels of crude oil. This tanker intended to transfer the oil produced from the Al-Masila oilfield in the west of Hadhramaut to an unknown destination.
Yahya al-Saree, the spokesman to the Yemeni armed forces, elaborated on the attacks, saying: “In this attack, we tried to preserve the infrastructure of Yemen and the safety of the ship and its crew, but we will not hesitate to perform our duties to stop and prevent the entry of any ship that seeks to plunder the wealth of the Yemeni nation.”
Asserting that Yemeni forces are capable of carrying out warning operations to defend their nation and protect its resources, Saree maintained: "Once again, we warn all companies to consider the decisions of Sana'a and avoid any attempt to plunder Yemen's resources.”
Hadhramaut is the biggest Yemeni oil producer and Saudi Arabia and the UAE mercenaries have repeatedly clashed over its oil resources. After the expiration of the ceasefire, Ansarullah leaders repeatedly warned that if the aggressors do not leave Yemen and do not hand over the country's energy resources to its people, Yemenis have the ability to retake their oil resources by force.
The strike on Al-Dhaba was Ansarullah's first serious action since Saudi regime's failure to extend the six-month truce. Though Ansarullah did launched a large-scale missile and drone operation against the Saudi enemy, its Al-Dhaba attack showed the resistance movement has intelligence dominance over the Saudi oil plundering plans and can strike them whenever it wishes. The recent attack was a wake-up call, telling the Saudi and Emirati leaders that from now on, it will not stay idle and would watch closely all of the aggression coalition's movements. Earlier, the Yemenis had said they hold a rich data bank of targets deep into Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as these countries’ mercenaries inside Yemen, and are ready to strike them if the need arises.
This attack showed that, contrary to Saudis' claims, it is Ansarullah that is advancing the developments in Yemen based on its will and has the upper hand on the ground.
Checking Yemen resources plunder
Yemen's central bank now is controlled by the Saudi-backed Presidential Council and all of the country's assets are deposited into this bank which is held hostage by Riyadh. The NSG’s oil ministry recently reported that the Saudi coalition has taken about $10 billion of Yemen's oil revenues. This amount of assets in the current situation can solve many of Yemen's economic problems, including the delayed salaries of employees. Ansarullah set salary payments as the main condition for extension of the ceasefire in the future.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has plundered a large part of the Yemeni oil in the eastern and southern provinces and made huge profits by selling it. Reports suggest that these profits are deposited in the Saudi banks and are not allowed to be transferred to Sana'a. So, by attacking the aggression oil tanker, Ansarullah told them they are not allowed to easily plunder Yemen's oil wealth. Ansarullah leaders have recently warned foreign oil companies to leave Saudi and Emirati oil projects before it is too late, and it seems that the Yemenis are preparing for missile and drone operations as they are concluding that the Saudis only know the language of force.
Ansarullah countering Yemen partition
Having failed to realize their main goal of toppling Ansarullah and fully occupying Yemen, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have moved to plan B, which is partitioning Yemen. Much of the southern Yemen is held by the Saudi and Emirati-backed mercenaries and much of Yemen's oil reserves are located in this part. By selling stolen oil, Saudi Arabia plans to administer the southern regions with Yemen's money. Sales of this oil, in its production the Americans have recently been involved, can make billions of dollars of profits annually enough to manage southern Yemen.
Though Saudi Arabia and the UAE are adopting this scenario, what they are ignoring is the reaction of Ansarullah and Yemeni army both of which promised prevention of partition of their country. Ansarullah has made many military achievements in a bid to liberate Yemen from the hands of the aggression countries and even target the depth of their soil.
Witnessing Ansarullah's power in attacks on their oil facilities, Saudi Arabia and the UAE know very well that if the movement decides to strike them anew, the occupiers will pay a heavy price. The continuation of missile operations against the oil facilities and infrastructure of Saudi Arabia and the UAE will have irreparable consequences for them. This issue will create serious challenges for the West at a time when energy markets in the world are rattled due the Ukraine war and can lead to instability and increase in the fuel prices. Moreover, in recent months, Ansarullah has developed new naval weapons which can seriously hinder the aggression countries’ oil exports through the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
By attacking Al-Dhaba oil terminal, Ansarullah sent a message to the occupiers, telling them that the “hit and run” and occupation days have gone, and if Riyadh and Abu Dhabi rulers do not come to their senses and press ahead with their warmongering, the Yemenis have the power to make them regret.
