Alwaght- As tensions in the Red Sea escalate as a fallout from the Gaza war, naval clashes between Yemen’s Ansarullah Movement and Western backers of the Israeli regime continue. On Tuesday night, the US and Britain launched an extensive attack in Yemen, a new one in a series of attacks on Yemen since UN Security passed Red Sea security resolution last month.
The US media outlets reported that in the new operation warplanes and Tomahawk cruise missiles were used. Biden in a statement said that these attacks were a clear message that the US and its partners will not turn a blind eye to the attacks on their personnel and endangerment of the freedom of navigation.
The US Secretary of Defense Loyd Austin, for his part, said that these attacks targeted drone and missile infrastructures of Yemen to weaken Ansarullah’s capability to attack the Israeli ships in the Red Sea.
News reports suggested that Hudaydah port, which is the main artery for the import of goods, fuel and international humanitarian aids to Yemen, has been bombed at least twice in one day. Also, the Yemeni media have reported the sound of several explosions during yesterday and last night in Sana’a province. Yemeni media also reported several explosions in the Ansarullah-held capital Sana’a.
According to Al-Alam news network, in these attacks, Attan and Al-Nahdain regions in the south and also Al-Hafa in northeast of the capital were bombed by the Western aggression coalition.
Al-Masirah news network of Yemen reported that these attacks targeted airports and military bases in several other cities.
The US Department of Defense claimed that initial assessment suggest that the strikes have have had good effects and will “substantially” degrade Ansarullah’s capabilities.
The British Ministry of Defense claimed in a statement that early indications show that the ability of the movement to threaten commercial ships has been severely affected.
The Yemeni military released a statement following the attacks, saying that now all British and American interests are “legitimate targets” and that it targeted two American and British ships in response. Yahya Saree, the spokesman to Yemeni forces, on Tuesday said that Yemen carried out two operations in the Red Sea, targeting American ship Star Nasia and British ship Morning Tide. The ships were struck with anti-ship missiles and the strikes were precise and direct, he said.
In the meantime, while the leaders of the Sana’a-based National Salvation Government of Yemen have stressed many times in the past few days that these attacks will not force-stop naval operations of Yemen against the ships bound for the occupied territories, Ansarullah Secretary-General Abdul Malik al-Houthi in his speech on Tuesday called the American attacks an “absolute evil and in line with the interests of the Zionists.”
Suggesting that the Americans, the British, and the Israelis are working on plans to weaken the Muslim world, al-Houthi said that the Muslim world is unfortunately in a position of weaknesses and the enemies are targeting it.
“A group of Jews are occupying the Palestinian land and torturing the Palestinian people in the front of eyes of more than 50 countries that have huge potentials,” he said.
The leader of Ansarullah further criticized the positions of Muslim countries, adding that for every Jew there are more than 150,000 Muslims who are unable to do anything and just watch the brutal killing of Muslims.
Ansarullah’s warnings and the renewed commitment to the naval actions against the Israeli regime have raised questions about the effectiveness of the American-British attacks against Yemen and the two countries’ capability to restore stability to the Red Sea.
To discuss the details and goals behind the American attacks on Yemen and their consequences, Alwaght talked to Seyyed Hadi Afghahi, an expert on West Asian affairs.
Ansarullah’s upper hand in the Red Sea
Asked about the impacts of these attacks on Ansarullah’s military power, Afghahi said that as the brutal Saudi-American attacks on Yemen over the past 9 years failed to bring the resistance movement to its knees, these attacks would not be able to force it to walk back from its stances.
“Over the 9 years of Saudi-led aggression against Yemen, the equation of deterrence was in favor of Ansarullah and against Saudi Arabia, forcing the Saudis to accept the legitimacy of the National Salvation Government. The United States and Britain will certainly take damages from their hasty and desperate intervention in Yemen. Yemen has the upper hand in the Red Sea and it continues its drone and missile strikes to force-end the Israeli war on Gaza.”
Saudi Arabia will not get involved in dangerous anti-Yemeni game
Commenting on the Saudi decline of invitation to the American-British coalition and attacks, Mr Abghahi said that although the Saudis are indebted to the Americans for their generous support in Yemen war and certainly will consider the American interests in their talks with Ansarullah, they will not get involved in the dangerous game in Yemen once again. Ansarullah chief negotiator Mohammad Abdel Salam talked about removing the challenges with the Saudis and on Monday the spokesman to the Yemeni foreign ministry lauded the Saudi stances and described the Saudi decline to participate in the anti-Yemeni attacks a source of happiness. Even the UAE rejected to join the American bombardment campaign.
Mr Afghahi named the negotiations with Ansarullah as one of the reasons why Saudis did not join the American military action against Yemen.
Saudi Arabia does not support military action against Yemen in order to reach peace and participate in the reconstruction of Yemen. Certainly, if the Saudis supported the US action, their relations with Ansarullah would be strained. The world condemned Washington’s policy of supporting the Israeli regime. Its warmongering policies, which help the genocide in Gaza, have countless opponents at home, and have turned Biden into a hated figure inside the US. Also, his position is at stake as the presidential elections approach.
Saudi-Emirati help to Israel shameful
In the end, Afghahi described as shameful the Saudi and Emirati support to the Israeli regime.
“Saudi Arabia allows the UAE to pass Israeli goods through its territory, which will then be sent to the Israeli regime through Jordan. In fact, they are seeking to circumvent Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Yemenis’ ban of ships bound to the Zionist regime by creating a land corridor. Indeed, the amount of goods transferred by land is not comparable to the amount that could enter the occupied territories from the Red Sea, but the very act of backing Israel is shameful,” he said.
