Analysis: The return of tension between Washington and Tehran... Why did the Iranian response come from Sana'a!
English - Wednesday 09 August 2023 الساعة 05:28 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, exclusive:
In light of the recent escalation of military tension between the United States of America and the Republic of Iran, the latter mobilized its arms in the Arab region, especially its arm in Yemen - the Houthi militia.
Tensions escalated after Washington sent 3,000 Marines to the Red Sea, in a move US officials described as coming "to deter destabilizing activity and calm regional tensions resulting from Iran's harassment and seizure of merchant ships," according to US Fifth Fleet spokesman Tim Hawkins, according to the French news agency.
US military personnel aboard the warships USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall arrived at the headquarters of the US Naval Base in the State of Bahrain. This increased US deployment follows a series of incidents over the past two years in which the West has accused Iran of trying to take control of nearly 20 international ships in the region.
This deployment of US forces over the past month comes to prevent Iran from seizing commercial tankers in international waters off the Sultanate of Oman on July 5. A collision between the Bahamas-flagged Richmond Voyager and an Iranian vessel seriously injured five crew members, Iran said. Previous cases also witnessed Iran seizing two oil tankers in the territorial waters within a week during the months of April and May.
In connection with the latest escalation, the United States had previously announced plans to deploy a destroyer, F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, along with the Amphibious Readiness Group/Naval Expeditionary Unit, to West Asia.
And last week, a US official revealed to Agence France-Presse plans to "deploy a security escort consisting of members of the Marine Corps and Navy aboard commercial tankers passing through and near the Strait of Hormuz, to form an additional layer of defense for these ships at risk."
And he stressed the need to receive a request to do so because the ships are private, adding: "We are making preparations for implementation in the event that there are final agreements to do so."
In response to America's implementation of this step by sending thousands of soldiers to the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, a spokesman for the Iranian Navy said that Tehran was equipping the Revolutionary Guards Navy with drones and missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). Later, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said that Iran does not trust America and will not trust it, and that what matters to the Iranian side with America is "neutralizing sanctions."
The Iranian response from Sanaa
However, the most severe response to the US military deployment in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf came from the leaders of the Houthi group from Sanaa, where they threatened to launch attacks on any US military presence in the Yemeni territorial waters off the coast of Hodeidah and Bab al-Mandab.
The media of the Houthi front militia quoted officials in its coup authority as saying that the presence of American forces in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab gives them justification for targeting these forces. It quoted the appointed deputy foreign minister, Hussein al-Ezzi, as saying that the US naval forces should move away from Yemeni territorial waters, and that their approach "just getting close" could mean the beginning of the longest and most costly battle in human history - as he put it.
It is not the first time that the Houthi militia has taken on the task of responding in the name of its only regional supporter - Tehran, as it had previously claimed attacks against vital installations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2019. Observers, at the time, were likely to have carried them out by Iranian forces.
Iran's arm in Yemen links these military moves by America to the stumbling of the peace negotiations that came out to the open since last April between the group and Saudi Arabia, following the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement under the auspices of China, while observers of developments in Yemeni affairs agree that the military escalation of the Houthi militia and the imposition of impossible conditions is what hinders The progress of negotiations between it and Saudi Arabia so far, not to mention the militia's continuation of its economic war against the legitimate government.
Justifications for the Houthi escalation
For nearly a year and a half of the April armistice agreement between the legitimate government and the Houthi militia, the latter did not miss an opportunity to exploit it for military escalation or to threaten to resume the war. While the Iranian-Saudi rapprochement has restrained the militia from violating the armistice agreement, it is still waiting for opportunities to evade its commitments to the peace process, at times by placing new crippling conditions on the negotiating table, and at other times by accusing America and Britain of seeking to thwart the negotiation efforts.
And now, after the return of military tension between Washington and Tehran, the Houthi militia has not missed the opportunity to threaten a military escalation, and it may take this opportunity as a context to implement the threats of the head of the group's so-called Supreme Political Council to target the Yemeni islands in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
The Houthi militia had conducted military maneuvers a few days ago in Serwah, Marib, which the Minister of Information in the legitimate government, Muammar al-Iryani, reported that had claimed the life of the prominent military leader of the group, Ahmed al-Hamzi, who held the status of commander of the Air Force and Air Defense with the rank of major general, and is listed on the list. Saudi terrorism and the American terrorism list.
Al-Eryani said, "The failed experiment conducted by the Houthi terrorist group a few days ago, to test new weapons, in the Serwah district of Ma'rib Governorate, which led to the death of a number of leaders and members of the group and experts from Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah who were present at the moment of the explosion, confirms its intentions to torpedo the calm efforts and return to square one.
He pointed out that the Houthi group continues to exploit the state of no peace and no war that has existed since the collapse of the UN armistice, to develop its arsenal of weapons smuggled from Iran, mobilize more fighters and recruit children to fight in its ranks, without regard for the difficult economic and humanitarian conditions, and the exorbitant bill for the war sparked by the coup.
