By Mostafa Awada
Hizam Al-Asad, a member of the political bureau of the Ansarullah movement, said that the measures announced by the Yemeni Armed Forces against Saudi Arabia mark the beginning of a new phase of escalation. He warned that the next steps would be “broader and more far-reaching” if the blockade imposed on Yemen continues.
In an interview with Al-Ahed News, Al-Asad said that the Yemeni people are enduring one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as a result of the ongoing “Saudi-American blockade and aggression,” which has continued for 12 years. He explained that the objective of the latest military measures is to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, break the blockade, halt the aggression, and end the occupation and tutelage imposed on the country.
He said the first step in the escalation would be to apply the principle of “blockade for blockade,” particularly along maritime routes. He stressed that Sanaa would work to bring Saudi Arabia’s exports and imports to “zero,” just as Yemen’s have been, adding: “It is unacceptable for the Saudi regime to enjoy normal commercial and maritime activity while the Yemeni people suffer from blockade and starvation.”
Al-Asad called on the countries neighboring Saudi Arabia not to cooperate with Riyadh in circumventing the Yemeni measures, stressing that the Yemeni Armed Forces have broad and significant options at their disposal to secure the Yemeni people’s legitimate rights and end the blockade.
He said Sanaa had repeatedly given Riyadh opportunities to end the crisis, citing previous messages conveyed in speeches by Ansarullah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi on the occasion of the Islamic New Year and during Ashura, as well as through general mobilization statements and remarks by the military spokesperson. Saudi Arabia, however, insisted on continuing the blockade and refused to respond to humanitarian demands.
He stressed that the military operations carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces are defensive in nature and aim to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, break the blockade, and secure what he described as their legitimate rights. He added that the Yemeni people now face only two options: “Either they die of hunger and disease, or they fight to secure their rights by force.”
Al-Asad spoke about the losses Yemen has suffered over the years of war, noting that the country has been subjected to more than 250,000 airstrikes, in addition to indirect economic losses that he said exceeded $17 trillion. He said it was “unacceptable and cannot be tolerated” for Saudi Arabia to continue exporting millions of barrels of oil every day and purchasing weapons while Yemen remains under blockade.
He added that Saudi Arabia’s airports and ports are operating normally, while Yemen’s land, sea, and air ports and crossings remain subject to closures and restrictions, further worsening the country’s humanitarian crisis.
He noted that the mass rallies held across Yemen recently reflected broad popular support for escalation and calls for the Yemeni Armed Forces to be given the green light to take stronger measures to break the blockade.
Al-Asad also stressed that the Yemeni people would no longer accept the continuation of the blockade or aggression, calling on Arab and Muslim peoples to understand Yemen’s position. He emphasized that the measures taken by Sanaa are nothing more than “defensive steps aimed at securing the Yemeni people’s legitimate rights and lifting the blockade imposed on them.”
In a related development, Ansarullah Political Bureau member Hizam al-Asad responded to claims made by Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-American aggression coalition, stressing that Saudi attempts to circumvent the Yemeni measures would not protect Riyadh’s oil exports or maritime traffic.
Responding to al-Maliki’s claim in a statement that “there is no blockade on Sanaa Airport,” al-Asad wrote on his official account: “Why did you come to bomb Sanaa Airport and mobilize yourselves and your proxies over a single flight that brought back patients and stranded Yemenis and returned our Yemeni delegation to their families and loved ones, if you claim that Yemen is not under blockade?”
Addressing the Saudi regime and its spokespersons, al-Asad added: “Such blatant denial will get you nowhere, nor will it protect your oil exports or maritime traffic.”
Al-Asad also responded to a statement by the Saudi Foreign Ministry calling on “the international community to implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, foremost among them Resolution 2216 on Yemen.” He stressed that “the rights demanded by the Yemeni people are legitimate rights guaranteed by all international laws, norms, and conventions.”
He stressed that “no party in the world has the right to confiscate these rights, and no entity has any justification for preventing Yemenis from traveling abroad, imposing a blockade on their ports and airports, violating their sovereignty, or interfering in their internal affairs.”
He explained that everyone had been expecting “a rational response from Saudi Arabia, in which it would announce an end to its aggression and blockade against the Yemeni people, commit to withdrawing its forces and refraining from interfering in Yemen’s sovereignty, and release the Yemeni prisoners held in its jails.” He added: “But it seems that it has yet to grasp the changes taking place and insists on escalation and punishing the Yemeni people for their positions in support of Gaza, describing those positions as ‘malicious objectives and agendas.’”
Concluding his remarks, al-Asad said the Saudi rhetoric “clearly exposes the motives behind the blockade and the relentless effort to starve the Yemeni people. It also makes clear that Saudi Arabia has neither a project nor any genuine interest in what it is doing in Yemen. Rather, it is prepared to sacrifice all its facilities and maritime traffic in order to bring Yemen back into the American fold and turn its own interests into a shield protecting the US regime and the ‘Israeli’ enemy, as well as their maritime routes, whatever the consequences may be.”
No comments:
Post a Comment