Yemen Monitor/Washington/Exclusive:
The US envoy to Yemen says the Houthi armed group is committed to strengthening its credentials as a member of the Iranian axis rather than peace in Yemen.
The United States is considering reclassifying the Houthis as a full-fledged terrorist organization in the same category as al-Qaeda in response to their attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Tensions in the Red Sea threaten the peace process in Yemen, where an April 2022 truce has frozen an eight-year civil war.
US Envoy Tim Lenderking told ABC News that the truce “has largely held,” and a UN-led roadmap in December 2023 has raised the prospect of bringing the Houthis and the internationally recognized government to the same table to agree on a path forward.
But there are “very serious questions about the extent to which [the Houthis] are committed to the peace process in Yemen,” Lenderking said.
“They seem to be more committed to strengthening their credentials as members of the [Iranian] resistance axis, building relationships with other terrorist organizations, and deepening their ties with Iran. And that seems to have been their focus, not the Yemeni people,” the envoy said.
Last January, the United States intercepted weapons it said were headed to the Houthis from Iran, which had just elected a new president, and imposed sanctions on Houthi financial networks. But it is not clear whether the Houthis are taking orders from Tehran or sometimes acting “outside Iranian dictates or recommendations,” according to Lenderking.
“We don’t see any change from the new leadership in Iran on any front so far, and certainly not in relation to the conflict in Yemen,” Lenderking said of new Iranian President Mas’od Bazkishan
“I think there is a strong commitment on the part of the Iranians to continue to support the Houthis,” he said.
Iran is accused of supporting the Houthis with weapons and money, but the Iranian regime always denies these accusations.
Since the end of the last year, the Houthis have been targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and recently they have expanded their operations to the Indian Ocean. They have said they are targeting ships linked to Israel, which is waging a brutal assault on Gaza Strip. But the Yemeni government and experts say the Houthis’ goals are local to escape domestic crises and improve their image in the region.
In response, the US and Britain have been conducting an airstrike campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi Group since January 11. As a result, the Houthis have announced an expansion of their operations to include US and British ships.
Lenderking said the multinational defense arrangements, which include countries as far away as Australia and as close as Bahrain, could be strengthened.
“Of course, the option remains for the US and the seven allies participating in this coalition to reconsider this,” he added.
Since November and early July, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) has recorded more than 200 attacks on US commercial or military ships off the coast of Yemen, including nearly 100 attacks since the start of US airstrikes on Yemeni soil.
