Statements on activity along Yemen’s western coast focused on the safety of maritime traffic. Abdulaziz bin Habtour, a member of the Houthi-affiliated Supreme Political Council, argued that the developments do not threaten international navigation, while Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, highlighted Bab al-Mandab’s regional and international importance.
In a statement on Thursday, bin Habtour said Yemen’s exercise of sovereignty over its territory, coasts and territorial waters did not pose a threat to international maritime traffic. Saying that navigation would remain safe, bin Habtour warned against a new military escalation targeting Yemen.
The Houthi official described statements by foreign countries as a double-standard approach toward Yemen’s sovereignty. Bin Habtour said the reasons for the escalation should be examined at the UN Security Council meeting on developments in Yemen, citing Saudi Arabia’s attacks and blockade among those reasons.
Bin Habtour also said the Security Council should not become a platform for condemning Yemenis for defending their country and sovereignty. He called for respect for Yemen’s sovereignty and independence, an end to the attacks and blockade, and progress toward lasting peace in order to ensure security and stability.
Abdulwahid Abu Ras, deputy foreign minister in the Houthis’ unrecognized government, also said maritime traffic was safe. Abu Ras said there was no link between maritime security and the clashes suppressed in districts along the western coast.
Al-Alimi stresses Bab al-Mandab’s shared importance
Rashad al-Alimi said protecting Yemen’s coastline and restoring the state’s control over its territory, ports and territorial waters were matters of shared interest for Yemen, Egypt, Arab countries and the international community.
Al-Alimi made the remarks during a meeting in Riyadh with Egypt’s ambassador to Yemen, Ihab Abu Seri. He accused the Houthis of carrying out an escalation on several fronts along the western coast with the participation of experts linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and allied groups.
Al-Alimi alleged that Iran aimed to use the Houthis’ push toward the western coast to gain the capacity to exert influence over Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea. Saying that Bab al-Mandab is an internationally important passage, al-Alimi said any threat there could directly affect the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, trade and global markets.
Activity along Yemen’s western coast
The Houthis were alleged to have entered several areas in the Hays and Huhay districts south of Hodeidah governorate on Yemen’s western coast. There were also claims that government forces and allied units had withdrawn from some positions in the area and that the Houthis were advancing toward the strategic city of Mokha on the Red Sea coast; however, accounts of control on the ground did not correspond with one another.
Yemeni government-aligned forces announced that a command center had been established south of Mokha, near Bab al-Mandab, following advances on several fronts in the west. Mokha and the surrounding coastline are strategically important because of their proximity to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
Military tensions between government forces and the Houthis in Yemen began escalating again in early July, after a relatively calm period that followed the ceasefire launched in April 2022. The Houthis have controlled the capital, Sana’a, and large areas in the north and west of the country since September 2014, while the government and its allies continue to control areas in the south and east.
