The leader of the Shiite jihadist terror group Ansar Allah, known commonly as the Houthis, marked the Islamic holiday celebrating the birthday of Mohammed on Tuesday with an accusatory screed claiming the government of Saudi Arabia was “serving Zionism” and threatening more attacks on the neighboring countries.
The Houthis are based in Yemen, seizing control of the nation’s capital Sana’a in 2014 with support from the Iranian terror state. Yemen was plunged into a state of civil war that remains unresolved to this day as the legitimate government of the country is based in the southern port city of Aden and relies heavily on Saudi Arabia for its survival. In addition to ongoing conflict with Saudi Arabia, which the Houthis recently rekindled after some months of relative stability, the group has made itself useful to Iran by disrupting commercial shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb strait that stretches around Yemen, attacking random ships and making it challenging for global shipping companies to reliably send their goods from the Middle East to Asia. The Houthis fight under the slogan “Allah is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
The leader of the Houthis, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, addressed his supporters on Tuesday, celebrating his decision in July to declare all Saudi ships blockaded from the Bab el-Mandeb and condemning Saudi Arabia for allowing Israelis to visit the country. According to the Iran-friendly outlet Al Mayadeen, al-Houthi declared that Saudi attempts to protect the country from Houthi attacks would help Israel, interpreting it as enemy behavior.
“Addressing Saudi Arabia, Sayyed al-Houthi criticized Riyadh over its policies toward Yemen, pointing to a contradiction between the continued restrictions imposed on the Yemeni people and the opening of the skies of Makkah and Medina to ‘Israelis,’” Al Mayadeen shared. “He said Saudi Arabia’s insistence on tightening the blockade and conducting military mobilizations amounted to ‘tyranny and serving Zionism.’”
Al-Houthi also reportedly claimed that the Saudi military operations against the Houthis were conducted “under U.S. supervision,” rather than being made as sovereign decisions, and that “the Saudi military and political approach serves broader U.S. and Israeli regional interests rather than the interests of the Yemeni or Arab peoples.”
The Tehran-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) similarly shared a report on al-Houthi’s speech marking the occasion, limiting its reporting on his comments towards Saudi Arabia. The outlet emphasized that al-Houthi “said that Zionism has targeted the Islamic Ummah, seeking domination, humiliation, occupation of lands, and exploitation of its resources” and that he made overtures assuring the Houthis’ loyalty towards Iran.
“Al-Houthi also criticized Saudi Arabia’s imposition of a blockade on Yemen, stressing that his country remains determined to implement the equation of ‘blockade in response to blockade’ against Saudi Arabia,” IRNA added.
The latest round of conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia began in July with an announcement from Houthi leaders that they would impose a “maritime ban” on Saudi ships in the Bab el-Mandeb, which opens up the Red Sea and directly impacts much of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry. The Houthis claimed the ban was necessary after the Saudi military reportedly targeted a plan traveling from Tehran to Sana’a in mid-July. While Houthi leaders claimed it was carrying senior Houthi representatives who were returning from attending the funeral of longtime dictator Ali Khamenei, multiple reporters indicated that the flight was carrying Iranian military aid to the Houthis.
As of last week, reports indicated that the Houthi campaign had severely disrupted Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, forcing tankers to voyage through expensive, convoluted routes to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb. According to Bloomberg, many Saudi tankers — those small enough to make the voyage through the Suez Canal — have been forced to navigate up the Red Sea, around Egypt, then around the entire coast of Africa to make it to Asia, about a 17,000-mile journey.
Houthi leaders have also consistently boasted of targeted attacks on presumed Saudi ships. On Monday, the Houthis claimed to have bombed the Amzan, an alleged Saudi oil tanker, off the coast of Yemen.
“The strike was precise and direct, resulting in a fire on the ship, and the escape of several other ships in the area,” Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree claimed. “We are ready, with God’s power, to confront any escalation with stronger and more severe strikes, and with broader and larger operations.”
The Houthis have also launched military campaigns against the Saudis, in addition to disrupting commerce. In early August, Houthi leaders claimed to have conducted a massive attack on alleged “Saudi enemy mercenaries” operating in Yemen.
“In light of the criminal Saudi enemy’s persistence in continuing the siege and aggression against our dear Yemeni people for nearly 12 years, our Armed Forces monitored large Saudi military concentrations that were in their final stages,” Saree said at the time, “aimed at escalating against the free provinces and the Yemeni people to deter them from their position on ending the unjust siege.”
While some reports placed the casualty count in the dozens, the Houthis claimed that they achieved a much higher death toll.
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