Intensive Talks in Riyadh to Support the Yemeni Army Amid Houthi Threats
Yemen Monitor/ Riyadh/ Exclusive:
Yemeni military and political officials are holding meetings in Riyadh with Saudi and Western military leaders to support the Yemeni army against the armed Houthi group.
This comes a day after the Houthi leader warned against any move against his group, threatening with hundreds of thousands recruited last year as part of the group’s attacks in the Red Sea, aiming to support the Palestinians facing Israel’s brutal campaign in the Gaza Strip.
On Friday, member of the Presidential Leadership Council, Othman Mujali, Defense Minister Mahsen al-Da’ari, and Chief of Staff of the Yemeni Army, Sagheer bin Aziz, visited the headquarters of the Joint Forces in Riyadh and met with Fahd bin Hamad al-Salman. They discussed the latest developments on the Yemeni front.
The Saudi military commander affirmed support for the Yemeni army “to stabilize security and stability in the liberated areas, for the benefit of the citizens living there.”
On Thursday, al-Salman met with member of the Presidential Leadership Council and Governor of Marib, Sheikh Sultan al-Aradah. Al-Salman affirmed the Joint Forces’ leadership’s keenness to enhance the capabilities of the Yemeni armed forces.
On Thursday, Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Peoples, the military attaché at the US embassy in Yemen, met with al-Da’eri. A day earlier, he met with the British ambassador to Yemen, Abda Sharif, and the British military attaché, Colonel Jonathan Freim.
On Tuesday, the non-resident Australian ambassador to Yemen, Mark Donovan, and the non-resident military attaché, Naval Colonel Lorraine Melbourne, met with al-Da’eri.
Al-Da’eri discussed with the US, British, and Australian officials the continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea “and the threat to maritime navigation.”
Also on Tuesday, the head of intelligence and reconnaissance, Major General Ahmed al-Yafei, met in the temporary capital, Aden, with the military attaché at the French embassy in Yemen, Major Godi Jenid.
On Sunday, Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Ahmed al-Basr met with the French ambassador to Yemen, Catherine Colonna, and the military attaché, Major Jenid Godi.
On Wednesday, Tareq Saleh, a member of the Presidential Leadership Council and an opponent of the Houthis who is fighting on the western coast near Hodeidah province, said his forces must “prepare for the day when Sana’a must witness what Damascus witnessed, which returned to its Arab embrace after the Syrian people toppled the Iranian regime’s guardianship forever.”
Political Coma
On Thursday, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the group, threatened against any move against his authority in Sana’a, considering it part of an American/Israeli plot.
The internationally recognized Yemeni government threatened that the fate of the Houthis would be like that of other Iranian militias in the region, with the fall of the Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria earlier this week.
In response to the Houthi leader’s speech, the Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Muammar al-Eryani, said, ” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi came out of his cave with a dull, confused, and tense speech, in a desperate attempt to intimidate Yemenis and portray his Iranian militias as an invincible force.”
He added that this speech confirms once again that the leader of the Houthi militia is living in a state of political coma, does not see what is happening around him, and does not realize the magnitude of the earthquake that shook the region and led to the fall of the Iranian expansionist project.
The huge change in Syria and the victory of the revolution led to the deprivation of Iran of its strong axis, after a few weeks of the assassination of Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, who was leading the Iranian axis in the Arab region. It seems that the Houthis are alone in the unity of the arenas, as the regime in Tehran also fears the variables that drag their country into war.