Many scholars believe that the intellectual and ethnic movements of the Houthis are influenced by the Islamic Revolution of Iran in such a way that a prominent figure of those movements would address the issues such as renunciation of polytheism, al-Quds Day, the need to fight arrogant powers and Zionist regime in his speech. The slogans that the youths chanted during Husayn al-Houthi’s speeches included “Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
Four mainstream movements are acting on Yemen’s political scene:
1) The General People’s Congress party that is founded by Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president of Yemen;
2) The Yemeni Congregation for Reform, frequently called al-Islah affiliated with Wahhabi ideology and supported by Saudi Arabia;
3) The Southern Movement that covers most of the country. This party constitutes three Movements namely the independent one, proponents of federalism, and the minorities;
4) The Zaydis and Houthis are present in different parts of the country especially the district of Sa’dah. It has been said that they account for about 40% of Yemen’s population.
In the tribal community of Yemen, violations of peace come with important consequences: when one member of a tribe is killed, the victim’s tribe has the right to kill a man from another tribe. In tribal areas, especially in Marib, al-Jawf and Shabwah, revenge killings have led to the creation of a cycle of intra-tribal violence, threatening all generations and overshadowing the political and economic prospects of Yemen. Moreover, this phenomenon would disturb the local business, children cannot go to school, and ordinary travels or taking a trip to find food and other daily needs also become very dangerous. Likewise, al-Qaedah, as a foreign actor and with its political instruction, is considered a serious threat to these tribal and local mechanisms used for maintaining the order of the country.
Ideologically, al-Qaedah faces many difficulties in Yemen. In 2009, the leader of al-Qaedah in Yemen, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, announced his support for the Yemeni people of the south in their battle for gaining independence. This call was made through the framework of jihad and confirmed that al-Qaedah’s perception of Islamic laws is the only way for the southern people to overcome the injustices imposed by the Saleh regime.
Another member of al-Qaedah, Abdullah al-Zaydi, states that receiving the support of al-Qaedah in the south requires that the views and approaches of this group regarding shari’ah law being observed and adopted. He said that if the people of the south continue to choose socialist and communist ideas, we will not join them.
The Houthi Shi’ah popular movement is also one of the major movements that calls for the elimination of domestic tyranny, the fulfillment of the demands of the Yemeni people and the ending of the intervention of Saudi Arabia and the United States in Yemen. This caused that figures such as Allamah Husayn Badruddin al-Houthi and his children, who founded the Ansarullah movement, to rethink Zaydi’s ideologies and its mission towards Yemen. It seems that the process of rebuilding and reviving the identity of Zaydis of Yemen is pursuing the following aims:
1) Providing a comprehensive reading of the Zaydi school of thought that has the most affinity with the Twelver Shi’ism;
2) Drawing the boundaries to distinguish Zaydi denomination from Wahhabism and not the Shafi’i community of Yemen; this means that by reviving the Zaydi identity, the Houthis have “nationalistic” concerns;
3) Focusing on the political and social values of Islam, such as Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil and jihad that have been eroded over time.
Some of the challenges facing Yemen are related to the political features and government structures of Ali Abdullah Saleh’s administration. The crisis in Yemen depends on the resilience mechanisms of the forces that are influenced by the United States and Saudi Arabia on the one hand and the Islamic Republic of Iran on the other. Inspired by the successes and revolutionary conditions of other Arab people in Tunisia, Bahrain and Egypt, the Yemeni people placed similar demands on Yemeni rulers. These demands included combating poverty and economic and administrative corruption, confronting al-Qaedah’s movements and social insecurity, social justice and dignity, and the inclusive and legitimate political participation of all Yemeni groups.
Ansarullah movement has gone through a certain historical course in a way that now it has become an armed movement with political demands. At first, in 1986, a cultural institute was established in North Yemen, called the Youth Union with the aim of educating Zaydi youth. Two of the prominent Zaydi scholars in Yemen, namely Najmuddin al-Mu’ayidi and Badruddin al-Houthi, were among the most prominent figures of the union. In 1990, the Yemeni unification took place and the area of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (known as South Yemen) was united with the Yemen Arab Republic (also known as North Yemen), forming the Republic of Yemen. At the time, a unity constitution was agreed upon based on which issues such as political freedom and pluralism were posed as slogans and of course to some extent were practiced.
Following these phenomena, the Youth Union, which was founded in North Yemen, was developed. In the wake of the unification of Yemen, the “Party of Truth” was formed from within the Youth Union. In fact, a cultural stream called the Youth Union turned into a political party called the Party of Truth, which represented the Zaydi Shi’ahs of Yemen.
Likewise, in 1992, a cultural and intellectual institution, called “al-Shabab al-Mu’min” was founded from within the same current by “Muhammad Badruddin al-Houthi” one of the children of Allamah Badruddin. This institution worked for some time and then it faced a breakup. Eventually, in 1997, Husayn Badruddin al-Houthi one of the prominent figures affiliated with one of the two existing groups within the al-Shabab al-Mu’min gained power in the movement in a way that from then on, al-Shabab al-Mu’min’s organization continued its activities with more obvious political orientations and under the leadership of Husayn al-Houthi.
In 1993, Husayn al-Houthi was elected to the Yemeni parliament, and while forming the party, doubled his cultural and political activities in order to confront the spread of Wahhabism which had been aggravated due to the return of Salafist and Wahhabi Yemenis from Afghanistan and the fear of their extremist ideologies.
In May 2012, Houthis declared ten major demands some of which were: the denial of any interference by foreign powers in national dialogues, providing a comprehensive framework for national dialogue, the recognition of North and South concerns, and releasing the political prisoners.
The Houthis want to be treated like all other Yemenis and that all Yemeni people have equal rights whereas the United States and Saudi Arabia, as well as Mansour Hadi, accuse them of seeking to revive the governance of Ahmad ibn Yahya or the Shi’ahs.
The formation of a political party and the equal participation of all groups in the elections and the political, cultural and economic fields of Yemen are the main demands of the Houthis. They believe that Houthis would carry out the armed struggles as long as Saudi Arabia, the United States and the Zionist regime, as well as their affiliated agents and movements, continue to intervene in Yemen’s affairs.
It seems that the political, social and economic demands of the Houthis are accepted by the community and the Yemeni parties. In addition, Yemenis call for the government to apologize to and compensate the Houthis because of the waging multiple wars against them.
The framework and setting for the establishment of a new constitution and presidential election should be provided through National dialogues. This forum initiated its activities in March 2013. The national dialogue was composed of nine working groups that discussed issues related to the south and north of Yemen, state-building, national issues, the government, military and security issues, special institutions, rights and freedoms, and development.
Foreign Actors
The Saudi Coalition’s Approach Regarding the War in Yemen
Geopolitical divisions in Saudi Arabia can be served as the basis for political divisions during the time of domestic pressures. So far, Saudi Arabia has maintained the military and political power required for consolidating the alliance in the Saudi kingdom through oil wealth, repression, United States’ military support, and unification with a religious fundamentalist (Wahhabi) leadership in the country. diplomacy and foreign policy of Saudi Arabia are greatly influenced by the ideology of Wahhabism and oil, and therefore this country is extremely worried about Iran’s growing influence in the region.
As far as the reaction of foreign actors to Yemen’s domestic events during the Arab Spring and afterward is concerned, Saudi Arabia has undoubtedly played a major role in these developments. Saudi Arabia has always played an interventionist role in Yemen and considered Yemen to be in its backyard so that most Yemeni people, regardless of their religion, political orientation or social class, believe that Saudi Arabia plays a role in the instability of this country and that the Arab Spring does not exist. Moreover, they are of the opinion that it is Islam that influenced the entire region bringing fear to the United States and its allies who are allies of Arab countries.
The main actions of the Saudi coalition include: creating military coalitions and calling for political support, economic and military sieges, disregarding the international human and legal norms, acquiring support from the international organizations and powers, political and religious factionalism, psychological and media wars, the destruction of the economic and governmental infrastructures, military attacks and killing civilians, and delegitimization of independent actors and the new state-building project.
Saudi Arabia exports its oil through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb. If these two straits are closed, oil exports of the country will be cut off. To overcome this geopolitical challenge, Saudi Arabia is considering the south. The policy of Saudi Arabia has been to get access to the international waters in any way. The Arabian Sea is an open sea and is located in the south of Saudi Arabia, provides direct access to the Indian Ocean for the country but Yemen’s Hadhramawt Governorate and Oman’s Dhofar Governorate are considered as the main obstacles in the way of Saudi’s access to the open Sea. Hence, Saudi Arabia has always tried to eliminate these barriers by invading Yemen and exerting pressure on the country.
Over the course of decades, Saudi Arabia has supported the movements and separatist groups of Oman and Yemen in order to dominate Yemen and Dhofar province and gain access to the open Sea. There is no doubt that the Saudis’ attacks and wars against Yemen are taking place with the aim of dominating the Hadhramawt; because Saudis have officially stated that this province belongs to their country.
Saudi Arabia has occupied several Yemeni strategic islands in order to dominate the Bab al-Mandeb strait and guarantee the safety of its tankers. According to Yemen’s al-Wahdi weekly newspaper, Saudi Arabia occupied the southern Yemeni island of Mayyun [GS1] on May 23, 1998. The country has called on Yemen to evacuate from an island located in the Red Sea to regain control of Mayyun. Saudi Arabia has occupied three Yemeni provinces, called Najran, Jizan and Asir which means gaining control of a territory as big as the country of Syria.
Asir region is located in the north of Yemen between Hejaz, Yemen and Najd. Asir is of geopolitical importance since it is extending to the edge of the Red Sea. Jizan province lies in the southeast corner of Saudi Arabia and directly north of the border with Yemen and is situated on the coast of the Red Sea. Jizan is located in the southeast of Saudi Arabia and the northwest of Yemen, alongside the Red Sea. The largest Saudi marine base in the Red Sea is geographically located in this province.
Najran province is located in southwestern Saudi Arabia and north of Yemen. One of Saudi Arabia’s largest airbases is in this province. The creation of a united and strong Yemen is against the Saudis’ goals. Based on the constitution of Yemen, the country should be among the most independent Arab countries and this is against the agendas of the Arab authoritarian regimes of the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the destruction of the tribal structures in Yemen would also limit Saudi Arabia’s leverage in the country. Therefore, Saudi Arabia is opposing the creation of a united, independent and free Yemen. That is why Saudi Arabia and the United States have an interventionist role in Yemen and Bahrain considering them to be in the backyard.
Saudi Arabia played a conservative role during the Yemen revolution. The most important approached that Saudi Arabia adopted with respect to that revolution and in general Yemen, included stopping the process of establishing democracy in Yemen, preventing the acceleration of developments and trying to manage them, preventing the spread of Yemen’s transformation to other regions and countries, preserving the structure of the Yemeni government and trying to bring affiliated individuals and movements to power, reducing the influence of the Shi’ahs, seeking the secession of Yemen in a way that some of its provinces would become a part of the Saudi Arabia in order to ensure access to the sea and reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz.
The weaknesses and inability of the Yemeni government to address the economic and livelihood problems of the people, as well as the expansion of al-Qaedah’s activities in recent years, have been the causes for Saudis’ concern. The country is very concerned about the possible return of the bombings of 2003 and 2004, this time from Yemen. Engaging in the anti-Houthi conflict in 2008 helped the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh to prevent the spread of anti-Saudi discourse and increase its operational capability in Yemen, especially across the borders.
The developments that occurred after the war with Houthis, the Arab Spring and its subsequent developments since 2011 have all exacerbated the concern that Saudi Arabia’s borders with Yemen are a proper setting through which al-Qaedah would be developed and exported to the entire Arabian peninsula. In general, Saudi Arabia’s most important foreign policy orientation towards Yemen’s political developments has been shaped based on the following agenda:
1) To stop the process of establishing democracy in Yemen
2) Preventing the acceleration of developments and trying to manage them
3) Preserving the structure of the Yemeni government and trying to bring affiliated individuals and movements to power
4) Reducing the influence of the Houthi Shi’ahs and Movements that are affiliated with Iran
Failure in accomplishing these goals, the Houthis’ objection to foreign interference and the continuation of political corruption in the country which resulted in Mansour Hadi’s departure from Sana’a, all in all, caused Saudi Arabia to become more concerned about the political developments in Yemen in a way that Saudis decided to lead a military coalition of Arab countries and strike an attack on Yemen.
The border dispute between Saudi Arabia and Yemen dates back to the 1934 war between the two Arab countries. In order to end the war, the two countries signed the Treaty of Taif in 1934. The treaty specified the borders of the two countries. Accordingly, the provinces of Asir, Najran and Jizan that are constituted by the Yemeni population would temporally belong to Saudi Arabia. Eastern borders are not properly marked. The maritime boundary of the two countries in the Red Sea also has not been outlined.
With the discovery of oil and its exports, Saudi Arabia considered it necessary to make plans to gain access to the strategic route from the southwest to the Arabian Sea.
Saudi Arabia’s oil is exported by tankers through the Suez Canal, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea and the Hormuz Strait in the Persian Gulf. None of these waterways belong to Saudi Arabia, hence this country has been seeking to win the Yemeni border disputes in order to secure the security of its oil exports.
According to one of the articles of the Treaty of Taif, the agreement would continue for twenty complete lunar years and may be reviewed afterwards. However, the treaty has been revised in various periods. Article 5 of the treaty states that the two parties may mutually undertake not to construct any fortified building within a distance of five kilometres on either side of the frontier, anywhere along the frontier line. Nonetheless, Saudi Arabia began to construct the fences along its borders in 2003 claiming that smuggling has been increased but the project was stopped because of Yemen’s objection.
Most of Yemen’s border areas with Saudi Arabia are now dominated by Ansarullah, and this raised concerns for Riyadh since more than two million Yemeni Shi’ahs who are residing in Saudi Arabia are crossing these borders, and the Saudis consider this to be a potential threat to their security.
The recent Houthi achievements in Yemen are like an increasing wave that is of high importance for the opponents of Iran. Because the Yemeni geostrategic position and full domination of the Port of Hudaydah, as well as the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, have allowed the Shi’ah groups to reach the Red Sea. Therefore, this is an important achievement for Riyadh’s ideological rival in a way that it could operate freely through long borders. In other words, capturing the Port of Hudaydah by the Houthis would allow Shi’ahs to take control of the two important straits and such phenomena can play a significant role in the political and military equations of the region.
The Yemeni constitution states that the Federal Republic of Yemen is a federal State, civil, democratic, independent and sovereign country. It is one indivisible country and no part thereof may be ceded. Therefore, Yemen is determined to reclaim its lost provinces that belonged to Saudi Arabia according to the Treaty of Taif in 1934. As a result, by imposing war and creating insecurity, Saudi Arabia seeks to undermine the Yemen government and divert Yemen’s public attention and the world from domestic affairs. Moreover, Saudi Arabia determines to keep possession of the provinces of Jizan, Asir and Najran by promoting Shi’aphobia (Houthiphobia) and separatism.
Ray Takeyh, an American Enterprise Institute analyst, believes that the Saudi kingdom has adopted a new foreign policy. After centuries of relying on the United States, the House of Saud is beginning to rely on its military capabilities in an attempt to stabilize the Middle East.
In the wake of the implementation of the great Middle East project and the fall of Saddam, Saudi Arabia made an increasing effort to expand its influence and also drive the neo-conservatives towards Iran as the next target; but what occurred included: Strengthening of the regional influence of Iran and the presence of this country in the construction of the Iraqi government. Since then, with the defeat of the United States in consolidating United States-Saudi power in Baghdad and the reinforcement of Iran’s position in Iraq, Saudi Arabia began to adopt the demolition and subversion policy in Iraq and the Middle East.
With the emergence of revolutionary developments in the Arab world, the fall of Mubarak and Ben Ali, as well as the spread of revolution in Yemen and Bahrain, regional movements seemed to have defeated Saudi Arabia more than before.
Thus, after 2010, Saudi Arabia took an aggressive approach to compensate for its previous failures and continuation of a self-expansion policy. The continuation of the crisis in Syria, deepening of the crisis in Iraq that occurs through driving Daesh into the country, the continuation of repression in Bahrain, and, ultimately, the military coup in Egypt all suggest that in contrast to the Resistance Front Saudi Arabia has been acting in an unprecedentedly aggressive manner. Accordingly, Saudi Arabia’s current approach regarding Yemen is an aggressive move to consolidate the Arab front in the region, restrict Iran and defeat the Resistance Front. Therefore, we should not expect a change in the orientation and intensity of Saudi action in the region, but on the contrary, the scope of Saudi activities will be increased so that the country’s incursion and expanding policies would continue.
Archive of The Enemies of the Islamic Revolution
leave your comments