"Houthis Turned Hodeidah into a Platform for Launching Iranian Missiles", Says Yemeni Official
(AWP) - Osama al-Sharmi, Yemen’s Deputy Minister of Information, said that the Israeli strikes targeting Houthi locations on Saturday harmed Yemen’s infrastructure and the legitimate government rather than weakened the Iranian-backed Houthi militia.
In an interview with AWP, al-Sharmi said that the Israeli assault hampered the Yemeni government’s efforts to regain control over the Houthi-ruled Yemeni coast.
The Yemeni official said, “We view Israel’s strikes as violent strikes, through which Israel wants to restore the previous balance of deterrence that existed between it and the pro-Iranian camps and groups in the Arab region, but we were harmed by them as the Yemeni people, and as a Yemeni government.”
Al-Sharmi accused Houthi militias of turning the coastal city of Hodeidah into “a platform for launching Iranian missiles.”
“The gravest thing that the Houthi militia is doing now on the western coast of Yemen is turning the city of Hodeidah into a platform for launching, storing, and reassembling missiles that come from Iran,” he continued.
Al-Sharmi said, “The Houthi militia is threatening international navigation, practicing piracy, clearly executing Iranian plans, and using our people in Hodeidah as human shields. Our infrastructure is used [by the Houthi militia] as a means to launch its missiles, drones, and boats against international trade and navigation.”
The Yemeni official called on “the international community to understand that Iran is using the Houthi group as a platform to threaten and blackmail the world and pass on many of its files, including the Iranian nuclear file, the ballistic missile file, and the sanctions on Iran.”
Al-Sharmi warned, “We will get stuck in a never-ending vicious cycle unless the international community supports the legitimate government in liberating its entire territory from the Houthi group, ending the Iranian threats from Yemen at least, and liberating at least the entire western coast in the near future.”
He concluded, “Our message to the international community is that it is possible. The liberation of the entire western coast is possible with minimal resources. We just want the green light, no more and no less.”
Israeli aircraft bombed Houthi targets near the Port of Hodeidah on Saturday. The rebel group said that the strikes hit the power station, the port, and fuel tanks, killing at least six people and wounding dozens.
The Israeli raid came a day after a Houthi drone attack was launched against Israel, which killed one person in Tel Aviv.