The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen held a massive military parade in the strategic port city of Hodeidah on Thursday – a display the United Nations found most unseemly, especially since the U.N.-brokered peace plan for Yemen is named after Hodeidah, and the plan specifically calls for the city to be kept free of “military manifestations.”
The Saudi-led coalition of Gulf Arab states fighting the Houthi insurgency in Yemen on Wednesday accused the Houthis of targeting oil tankers with explosive-laden boats in an effort to make the worldwide fuel crisis even worse.
Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen will not hesitate to fire missiles that can reach Riyadh, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi if the fragile ceasefire now in place in the country’s main port city of Hodeidah fails to prevent violence from escalating further, the leader of the Shiite rebels warned on Monday.
U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller on Thursday blamed the Iran-backed Houthi insurgency for deliberately stalling implementation of a peace deal brokered by the United Nations.
The internationally recognized government of Yemen and Iran-allied Houthi rebels agreed over the weekend to start pulling out their forces from the strategically important port city of Hodeidah under a United Nations-sponsored deal, negotiators from the international body announced on Sunday.
Iran-allied Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen are preventing aid workers from accessing aid for millions of Yemenis, putting the food “at risk of rotting” while an estimated 20 million people in the country find themselves on the brink of starvation, the United Nations warned Monday.
Both sides in the Yemen war agreed to a ceasefire to begin on Tuesday, December 18, and after one day it seems to be holding.
The Iran-backed Shiite Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition on Thursday agreed on an immediate ceasefire in Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, considered the lifeline of the country as the primary entry point for food and humanitarian aid.
The Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting to restore the internationally-recognized government of Yemen reported on Wednesday that the strategically vital airport in Hodeidah was captured from Houthi insurgents without any civilian casualties, despite the Houthi tactic of placing armored fighting vehicles in civilian areas.
The Saudi-led coalition reportedly said this week it can seize Yemen’s main port city of Hodeida from the Iran-allied Houthi rebels quickly enough to avoid interrupting aid to millions and triggering the famine that the United Nations fears would befall the region if the offensive continues.
