General
information
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Yemen is a country in the Middle East; just south of
Saudi Arabia. Its capital is the City of Sanaa.
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Area: 527,968 km2
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Population: 23,013,386 (based on a 2008 analysis)
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Religion: A combination of different branches of
Shiite and Sunni Islam, 42% of which are Shiite. Some 35% of the Shiites are
Zaidiya (believe in 5 Imams) and the rest believe in 12 and 7 (Ismailia) Imams.
The Sunnis are mostly Shafis and there is a small percentage of Christian and
Jews.
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Yemen has several islands; the most important of which
are: Saghreh Island in the Arab Sea and Hanish Island in the Red Sea.
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From 1967 to 1990, the People’s Democratic Republic of
Yemen was consisted of South Yemen and Arabic Republic of Yemen in Northern
Yemen. They united on 22 April 1990 and formed the Republic of Yemen. Yet after
this treaty, bloody battles broke out between North and South Yemen. Finally,
in 1994 Northern Yemen overcame the south and Yemen’s unity stayed intact.
General
information about “AnsarAllah” and Houthis
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AnsarAllah is a Shiite Zaidi fundamentalist movement.
Its main center is in Saade, northern Yemen. This movement is known as the
“Houthis”. Seyyed Hussein Badr-e-Din al-Houthi founded this movement. He was
killed in September 2004 in a clash with government forces. Hussein Houthi is
the movement’s spiritual leader. After his death his brother Abdul-Malek
al-Houthi has taken over the movement’s leadership to this day.
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AnsarAllah turned into an organization during the time
of Abdul-Malek al-Houthi. It is consisted of a political council, official
spokesperson and cultural, social and media committees. The al-Massira satellite
network and internet websites such as al-Menbar belong to this organization.
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Hussein Badr-e-Din al-Houthi, the founder of the
AnsarAllah, was born in 1978 in the city of Saada. He graduated in Sudan with a
senior expert’s degree in science. He formed the Hezb (party) al-Haq in 1990.
He entered the Yemeni Parliament from 1993 to 1997. After that he founded the
Faithful Youths Movement (AnsarAllah) in 1997. He was eventually killed in one
of the movement’s clashes with the government.
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Up to the recent war, the AnsarAllah movement had
fought 6 wars with Saudi Arabia:
1. The first began
in 2004 and ended with the killing of Hussein Bard-e-Din al-Houthi in September
2004.
2. The second war
in Saada began in March 2005 and ended in May of that year.
3. The third war
began in November 2005 and lasted until January 2006. It was in this war that
Abdul-Malek al-Houthi was announced as the new leader of the AnsarAllah. Seyyed
Abdul-Malek Badr-e-Din al-Houthi was born in 1979 in the City of Saada.
4. The forth war
began in January 2007 and lasted until June 2007.
5. The fifth war
was from March to June 2007.
6. The most intense
battles were during the sixth war that lasted from August 2009 to February
2010. Saudi Arabia’s air and ground forces along with forces from Pakistan and
Jordan entered this war. It was during this war that the AnsarAllah movement
showed itself as a powerful and effective group in Yemen’s equations.
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Following the beginning of the Arab Spring in
countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and … in 2011, uprisings began in Yemen.
Finally in 2012, Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to step down from power after
receiving immunity within the framework of a signed “Gulf Council Countries
Initiative”. His deputy, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, formed Yemen’s new government.
AnsarAllah announced its disagreement with the plan and began opposing it
politically.
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The AnsarAllah, with the directions and support of
Iran and the Quds Force, began clashes in 2013, which continued during 2014.
Ultimately, on 17 February 2015, the group carried out a coup d’état, sacked
President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi and dissolved the country’s Parliament. By
issuing a Constitutional declaration, it formed the Presidential Council.
General
map of the scene in Yemen
Prior to the
26 March 2015 Saudis’ attack, Yemen was divided between the AnsarAllah,
supporters of the Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi and Al-Qaida. This was the scene of
Yemen:
A glance
of Iran’s relations with the AnsarAllah (Houthis)
The
fundamentalist Iranian government used its experience in forming and expanding
the Hezbollah in Lebanon and began gaining foothold in Yemen from 1991. Iran
chose the al-Houthi family for the job. Al-Houthis are Zaidi Shiites. Iran’s
brought the Houthi leaders to Iran to visit the religious city of Qom.
Hussein
al-Houthi, who was known as the leader of the Yemeni rebels in Saade, was
influenced by Iran in the early 90s. Iran used the Hezbollah model to form the
Houthis’ political and military activities.
Hussein
al-Houthi, upon the directions of Iran, founded the “Hezb al-Haq” in 1991. He
took part in the 1993 elections and became a member of the Yemeni Parliament.
It was in 1997 that he left the Hezb al-Haq and founded the Faithful Youths
Movement. This movement was later on renamed to the AnsarAllah. At that time
the Yemeni Government helped this movement. The Faithful Youths Movement, with
the help and guidance of Iran, was formed and became the focal point of the
rebels in Saade.
After 9/11,
Iran placed the task of forming armed groups against the US in its agenda in
order to confront the US’ aggressions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. It also
strengthened its support for the Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Until the
Faithful Youths Movement was in unity with the Yemeni Government and had
political activities, Iran guided them to take up anti-American policies. With
the help of Iran, this movement formed circles in mosques and they initiated
anti-American slogans and movements. This was up to 2003, when the Yemeni
Government arrested 650 members of the Faithful Youths Movement who had anti-American
activities in mosques and chanted ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel’
slogans.
The efforts
of al-Houthi and his loyals to free these individuals were fruitless. Until
then, the Houthis carried out political activities, yet afterwards they began
their political, and a short time later, military confrontations. Hussein
al-Houthi was killed in a battle with the Yemeni Army in 2004.
Iranian Organization of Islamic Culture and
Communications report on Houthis
In a December 2010 report from the Iranian Organization of Islamic Culture
and Communications, the following issues were mentioned:
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Badr-e-Din al-Houthi (father of
the Houthis) who is 90 years old, has a charismatic and spiritual character and
is like the Houthi movement’s Marjaiya (Shiite religious leadership). However
he is not engaged very much in the on-the-scene decision makings.
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Yahya al-Houthi, the older
brother of Abdul-Malek al-Houthi is in Germany. He carries out the political
and international activities of the Saade rebels and issues their statements.
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Badr-e-Din al-Houthi and his sons
Hussein and Abdul-Malek had all spent time in the City of Qom in Iran.
Abdul-Malek has spent more than a year in Iran.
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Badr-e-Din and Abdul-Malek
al-Houthi have converted to the religion of 12 Imam Shia yet it isn’t in their
interest to publicly announce this issue because they will lose support in
Yemen. Badr-e-Din al-Houthi’s will is in the hands of Ayatollah Mohammad Reza
Jalali in Qom. In it al-Houthi announces his conversion from Zaidi to a 12 Imam
Shia. However, he has stressed that his will not be published before his death.
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Currently, Yemeni religious
students are active in two groups in the Jam’a al-Mostafa School in Qom. Some,
with the help of the Yemen Embassy in Tehran, have become supporters of the
Government and are cooperating with the Yemen Embassy. The other group is
supporters of the Hussein and Abdul-Malek al-Houthi.
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One of the Yemeni clergy named
Ossam al-Emad, is in charge of the Yemeni supporters of Abdul-Malek al-Houthi
in Qom. Ossam al-Emad was previously a Wahabi Sunni, yet he converted into the
12 Imam Shia under the teachings of Iran’s fundamentalists in Qom.
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Ossam al-Emad does a lot of
interviews with Shiite and Arabic satellite networks regarding Yemen. The
Organization of Islamic Culture and Communications and the Ahl-e Beit
International Assembly and other organs carry out their propaganda policies in
Arabic Medias through him.
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The Quds Force has an active
relationship with the al-Houthi movement. (It gives them specific military aid)
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The reports of organizations and
bodies within Iran regarding the Houthi movement illustrate how this movement
is completely intact with the goals of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The roots
of this relationship go back to 1995 when the Islamic Republic of Iran entered
into Yemen with a cultural agreement. When the US entered into regional wars in
2001, the Faithful Youths Movement was formed to promote armed conflicts
against the US. First widespread demonstrations were initiated and large
recruitments were made to enter the war. These recruitments were organized to
form a war force. When Hussein al-Houthi was killed in 2004, this movement took
the form of a military force. Similar to the Lebanon Hezbollah.
Iran’s attempt to illustrate Abdul-Malek al-Houthi as
Yemen’s Hassan Nasrollah
The mullahs’ regime formed a close bond between the Faithful Youths
movement and the Lebanese Hezbollah. Iran placed Hezbollah as this movement’s
exemplar. Hussein and Abdul-Malek al-Houthi used the exact model of the
Hezbollah to form the AnsarAllah. Yet instead of giving them anti-Israeli
motives, they gave their forces anti-American motives.
Abdul-Malek al-Houthi has been the leader of the Houthis ever since the
death of Hussein al-Houthi in 2004. He is completely under the influence of
Iran. Iran is trying to portray Abdul-Malek al-Houthi as Yemen’s Hassan
Nasrollah.
During former Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s term in office, in comparison
with the Khatami (President before Ahmadinejad) term, relations with the
Houthis improved and aids became more and more tangible. Up until September
2014, due to international pressures, Iran tried not to make public its
relations with the Houthis. This was while the Ahl-e Beit International
Assembly, Islamic Religions’ Rapprochement Assembly, Jam’a al-Mostafa, Quds
Force and … were active in the clashes in Yemen.
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ position after Saudi
Arabia’s aggression
1. According to a 26 March 2015 report from the Iranian Tasnim News Agency,
brigadier general MassoudJazayeri, deputy of the Armed Forces Council, said
regarding the recent transitions in Yemen: the US and its allies have faced
despicable defeat in every war they’ve entered into during the past years in
the region. The US doesn’t have a clear understanding of the regional
transitions and the awakening of the people; therefore its actions lack
strategic policy and decision makings.
2. According to a 26 March 2015 report from the Ofogh Website (affiliated
to the IRGC), IRGC brigadier general YadollahJavan, political analyst, said:
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As mentioned in the Medias, the
Saudis’ actions were in cooperation with the US. This aggression has been
carried out against the national sovereignty, independence and territorial
integrity of a deep-rooted nation.
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The Saudis fell for the trap of
the US and Israel because they want to compensate their repeated defeats in the
past years through this action, yet they will face another defeat.
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This military attack will end the
life of a dynasty in Saudi Arabia and it will speed it up.
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IRGC commander YadollahJavan, by
comparing Saddam’s attack against the Islamic Iran after the revolution, noted:
we saw how the Iranian nation defended itself against an aggression towards its
independence and territorial integrity, and the story in Yemen will be similar.
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Saudi Arabia’s military
aggression against Yemen is related to the ongoing issue in western Asia,
including Syria, the occupied lands and Iraq.
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For the Al Saud, there is nothing
worse than attacking an Islamic country and for the US and Israel to support
Saudi Arabia. Therefore, although this measure is a new crisis, yet it will not
be in favor of the aggressors.
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After the US’ use of terrorist
groups such as al-Qaida failed, it had no choice but to force its allied
countries to enter this war and this is another phase of the proxy war. After
the US’ direct presence in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, after Israel’s
proxy wars against the Resistance, the US followed up by creating turmoil
through terrorist groups such as ISIS, yet due to its failure; it pushed its
allies into wars with the people of the region.
3. The Vahed-e MarkaziKhabar News Agency wrote on 27 March 2015: the
Al-Arabiya TV network claimed that “this network has acquired video footage
showing a Houthi fighter getting training from IRGC forces at one of Yemen’s
military airbases in order to use fighter jets. This proves Iran’s support for
the Houthi (AnsarAllah) coup d’état forces in Yemen.”
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