THE HOUTHIS SPREAD
In the past, the Houthis had been limited to the Sa’ada province.
But after the fall of the regime, they spread to the rest of Yemen’s provinces, recruiting politicians from different groups who are well known in the Yemeni political sphere.
Sources told ALsharq Al-Awsat news peapr that “in many Yemeni provinces, Iranian money plays a role in attracting supporters to the Houthis.
They have ties with some factions of the Southern Movement, foremost the faction led by former South Yemen vice president Ali Salem.
Mr. Salem now resides in Beirut under the protection of Hezbollah, after his close association with Tehran was revealed.”
The Houthis are alleged to be training a number of young Yemenis in Beirut in media and military practices and then sending them to areas in southern Yemen. Reports also indicate that Houthis have been fighting in the ongoing war in Syria alongside the Syrian regime forces with Iranian and Hezbollah support, especially in the city of Al-Qusayr.
There are rumors that Iran is providing further support to some of the groups in Yemen, particularly the Houthis, by smuggling arms.
Yemeni authorities have presented evidence of this allegation, and the United Nations launched a direct investigation after the interception of an Iranian ship carrying weapons in Yemeni waters with members of the Houthi movement aboard.
Retired general turned military analyst Mohsen Khasrov told Asharq Al-Awsat that the ongoing political process in Yemen is “the primary target of the weapons smuggling by Iranian and Turkish companies and everyone else involved who wish to destabilize Yemen. These actors have political ambitions and arms dealers are exploiting Yemen’s current circumstances. They are located in the Sa’ada province, Jahana Buni Matr, and Al-Heima in Sana’a province.”
Khasrov underscored that the new arms deals in Yemen for the Houthis and other radical groups include “a grade of new weapons that are smuggled into Yemen: weapons used in assassinations, sniper equipment and armor previously unavailable in the Yemeni arms market, weapons with night vision, and pistols equipped with silencers.”
The activities of these groups will ensure that Yemen continues to teeter on the brink of the abyss.
State sovereignty will continue to erode in the Yemeni province of Sa’ada and in other areas under rebel control in Amran, Hajjah, Al-Jawf and elsewhere. The conflict will rage unchecked, fueled by the Houthis’ control over financial resources and their imposition ofZakat (Islamic tax) or, as they call it, “Khamas.”
At a time when questions surrounding the future of Yemen abound, the current tensions and violence surrounding the Houthis’ increasingly assertive actions impacts not only the country’s northern areas, but the entire Yemen and the wider region.
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