While the tension in the Red Sea is still up a notch this weekend with the fire on Friday of a British oil tanker hit head-on by a missile fired by the Houthi rebels of Yemen then the American strikes against a Houthi site which was preparing an attack against an American destroyer, the United States asked China to use its “ influence » on Iran for « put an end to » attacks by the Houthis, supported by Tehran, against maritime transport, a senior American official told a few journalists. This while the National Security Advisor of the White House, Jake Sullivan, and the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, met for two days in Bangkok to discuss, among other things, very sensitive subjects such as the attacks of Houthis or Taiwan.
“Beijing tells us that they are raising the subject with Iran but we look at what is happening in reality, and these attacks seem to continue,” added the American official, stressing that Jake Sullivan had expressed American expectations to Bangkok.
According to Tehran, the “axis of resistance” acts independently of Iran
Since the start of the conflict in Gaza, triggered by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, Tehran has insisted that the actors of “the axis of resistance », composed of Tehran’s allies in its fight against Israel, act independently of Iran, contrary to what American or Israeli officials in particular assert. Which does not prevent Ayatollah Khamenei from greeting “ what they did » the Houthis who “ were not afraid ” of the ” threat » Americans, as he did at the beginning of January. The Houthis say they are targeting ships linked to Israel by “ solidarity » with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
For the United States and other Western countries, Iran is indeed behind these attacks. They are all the more convinced of this since two weeks ago, the American army seized parts of Iranian-made missiles intended for the Houthi rebels on a boat in the Arabian Sea, the first seizure of this type since the start of Houthi attacks against commercial ships.
“This is the first seizure of lethal advanced conventional weapons (ACW) supplied by Iran to the Houthis since the Houthis began attacks on merchant ships in November 2023,” the Iranian General Staff said. American army.
The missile parts were seized aboard a dhow, a traditional Arab sailboat, operated by a crew of 14 people. The boat was deemed dangerous and was sunk, the US Army General Staff said.
An arsenal of 200,000 Iranian missiles?
As a reminder, Iran has a vast arsenal of missiles of different ranges – short (300 km), medium (300-1,000) and long (up to 2,000), a large proportion of which is produced or assembled locally thanks to a high-level industrial and academic sector. As is often the case in this area, Iranian stocks are unknown but experts consider them plethoric, whether they are in the hands of the army, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, or Iran’s various allies in the region, since the Lebanese Hezbollah to the Houthi rebels of Yemen.
Eva Koulouriotis, an independent expert, recently told AFP that Arab and Western sources “ report some 60,000 missiles » but believed that “ the figure is much higher and could reach 200,000 » units. The Islamic Republic’s ballistic program fuels its nuclear ambitions, which would rely on high-tech missiles if it were to acquire the bomb, which the West accuses it of wanting to do.
Yemen government seeks help from US, Saudi Arabia
Against this backdrop, Yemen’s Presidential Council, the Saudi-backed entity representing the internationally recognized government that the Houthis ousted from the capital Sanaa nearly a decade ago, is seeking to take advantage of the situation to regain control. This Saturday, its leader, Rashad al-Alimi, in fact requested the support of the United States and Saudi Arabia for “ eliminate » the ability of Houthi rebels to carry out attacks on ships off the coast of Yemen.
“ Defensive operations are not the solution “, he declared during a press conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh, in reference to the American-British strikes against these Yemeni rebels. “ The solution is to eliminate the Houthis’ military capabilities “, he added. Yemen’s Presidential Council is based in the southern city of Aden.
Rashad al-Alimi said he supported the peace process, accusing the rebels and Iran of not wanting peace. He also said he wanted support from the United States and Saudi Arabia for ground operations against the Houthis, saying Yemeni forces should be ” partners » in these operations. “ We demand (this support) every day, every month, every year “, he said.
So far, US forces, sometimes jointly with the UK, have carried out a series of strikes targeting the Houthis in an attempt to deter them from continuing to attack commercial shipping, without success so far. The American strikes particularly targeted missile and drone launch sites. Analysts have warned that growing tensions in the region could derail efforts to achieve a ceasefire between the Houthis and the Saudi-led military coalition established in 2015 to support the government. .
Since 2014, the war in Yemen has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and plunged the country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the UN. The poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has, however, experienced a fragile lull since a truce negotiated by the UN in April 2022. The truce expired last October but remains generally respected.
Five things to know about Yemen
Yemen, from where Houthi rebels carry out attacks in the Red Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza, is the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, devastated by nearly a decade of conflict.
– Two Yemens united
In 1918, after the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, northern Yemen became an independent kingdom ruled by Zaidi imams. In 1962, a coup d’état led by nationalist officers overthrew the imam-king, the Republic of North Yemen was proclaimed. A civil war lasted until 1970. To the south, the port of Aden has been in the hands of Great Britain since 1839, which proclaimed it a royal colony in 1935 before making its hinterland a protectorate. In 1967, South Yemen became independent after an armed revolt against the British: the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen was born, the only Arab Marxist state. The nationalist North and the communist South were united in 1990.
– Nearly a decade of war
The country has been shaken since July 2014 by a conflict between the Houthis, rebels close to Iran, and pro-government forces, supported by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis, considering themselves marginalized, then launched an offensive from their stronghold of Saada. They come from Zaidism, a branch of majority Shiism in northern Yemen. They gradually seize large parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa, triggering the military intervention of a coalition led by Riyadh in support of the government, which has taken refuge in Aden (south). All sides have been accused by UN experts of committing war crimes. A UN-brokered truce in April 2022 expired after six months, but the situation has since remained relatively calm. But since the end of 2023 the country has been caught up in the Israel-Hamas conflict: after having increased attacks on ships in the Red Sea in “solidarity” with the Palestinians in Gaza, severely disrupting maritime traffic, the Houthis were targeted on the night of the 11th. -January 12, 2024 by American and British strikes.
– Risk of starvation
Despite the significant reduction in fighting, more than 4.3 million Yemenis remain displaced, according to the UN. The conflict has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. According to a report by the organization at the end of 2021, it caused nearly 380,000 deaths, the vast majority due to indirect consequences such as hunger. More than 21 of the 34 million inhabitants, or more than two thirds, still depend on humanitarian aid and more than 450,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition, the UN indicated at the end of 2023. Yemen has one of the highest GDP per capita the lowest in the world, at $650 (World Bank in 2022).
– “Talibanization”
In an already very conservative country, the Houthis have limited women’s freedoms in the areas they control. They forbid them from moving from one city to another and abroad without a “mahram”, a male guardian or guardian, a rule imposed by strict regimes like that of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In their stronghold of Saada and certain small towns, women no longer have the right to travel alone after 6 p.m., including for medical emergencies, and no longer have free access to contraception. The marriage of young girls is a common practice in Yemen, where violence against women has increased with the war.
– Heritage in danger
Yemen is the land of the legendary civilization of Saba. Known as Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia), an ancient name dating from 400 BC, it is full of architectural treasures. But the old city of Sanaa, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1986, is considered in danger due to the conflict. Built in a valley in the middle of the mountains, Sanaa was an important center for the spread of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries, with more than 100 ancient mosques and 6,000 houses, all built before the 11th century. The ancient city of Shibam (east), called “Manhattan of the desert” because of its tower houses, and the historic city of Zabid (west) are also considered at risk.
(AFP)