Strike Houthis while Iran is weak, UN-backed Yemeni government urges west
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Tehran ‘massively weakened’ by reverses in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, says vice-president of Aden-based administration. The west should seize the opportunity to target the Tehran-backed Houthi leadership in Yemen while the Iranian government is weakened, the vice-president of the UN-backed government in Aden has said.
Aidarus al-Zoubaidi said that Iran’s reverses in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza had left the country “massively weakened”. “They have one remaining domain and that is Yemen,” Zoubaidi told the Guardian. “Now is the time to counter the Houthis and push them back into their position.”.
He said Yemen ground forces should work in cooperation with western airstrikes as part of a multi-pronged strategy. Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, he also called on the new US administration to designate the Houthis a foreign terrorist organisation, and praised Donald Trump for showing “decisive leadership”.
His remarks suggest that the Presidential Leadership Council, based in the Yemeni city Aden, regards the weakening of Iran and the return of Trump as an opportunity to launch a joint military offensive against the Houthis, including the potential use of ground forces.
He predicted: “Iran will not give up on the Houthis, but on the contrary double down on its support for the Houthis as the last remaining component of its chain of proxy forces. So this is the right time for us also to double time and push them to the maximum”. Iran says the Houthis are an independent political force.
