Both Iran and the Houthis should be blamed for the “militarization of the Red Sea,” said Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy to Yemen, stressing that the military action undertaken by the United States and its allies is "against the Houthi military capability.” Lenderking said the Houthis are acting "like a global terrorist organization,” calling on them to “stop their attacks immediately.”
Lenderking was talking in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on the eve of his new tour in the region, said the situation in Red Sea “has become unbearable.” However, he left the door open to different measures, adding: “When their attacks stop, we can stop too.” He believed that this Houthi behavior “contradicts support for the Palestinians.” Pointing out that their behavior is endangering the “tremendous progress” achieved in the “peace process” led by the United Nations.
Lenderking stressed that “Iran poses a major threat,” describing supplying the Houthis with money and weapons to attack ships as “very convenient for Iran’s agenda,” which is acting to “destabilize,” and not “the behavior of a member of the international community.”
- First. Now with this attack on the US Post in Jordan, it's not within your scope, but apparently, Iran is behind those attacks in Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. This is your area, and there is the huge problem in the Red Sea. How is the US going to deal with this issue?
You’re absolutely right to point out the central role that Iran plays in destabilizing activity all over the region. This is nothing new. This is a feature of Iran's regional behavior since 1979. Instead of seeking constructive diplomatic solutions to the conflicts plaguing the region, Tehran has instead, time and time again, sought to destabilize it. If Iran were truly interested in peace in the region, they would cease their arming and financing of the Houthis and other destabilizing groups. Instead, we only see that support continuing, as evidenced by the recent interdiction of a shipment of weapons from Iran to Yemen.
This attack last week is just another example. This one is particularly egregious because it killed three US service members. What we see on the Yemen front is the Iranians playing a very active role in facilitating and assisting the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. This is a very unfortunate posture for the Iranians and the Houthis to take. What has this this led to? The militarization of the Red Sea. Something no country, including Iran, supposedly wanted up to this point. There are now more warships and more other ships protecting international commerce than there were before.
The Houthis are driving up prices through attacks on international shipping. That means an increase in the prices of wheat and other goods getting to the Palestinian people or to other parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia. It's driving up fuel prices. It's adding on 5,000 miles, as shippers say they don't want anything to do with the Red Sea. They are having to go around the southern tip of Africa. How many tons of food are going to be spoiled by this additional long traverse? And how much higher will food prices go? This is hitting ordinary consumers. It's not just hitting the Israelis. It's not just hitting the Americans. It's hitting ordinary consumers around the world in every country, including Yemen, and the Palestinians as well.
So, I would argue that the Houthi attacks must stop because they are inflicting damage on the global community and on Yemen. And that's why we think that the Houthi attacks are misguided. They're reckless. They’re indiscriminate, and that's why they should stop.
- They say they are outraged by the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian civilians as you’ve just mentioned, and if the US pressure Israel, then everything will stop, not only within the Red Sea context, but also in the wider context. Iran is using this argument all the time. Again, they have the same the Axis of Resistance. They have the same argument, why doesn't the US listen to this?
What the Houthis are doing is an example of someone having a problem with their neighbor and burning down the neighborhood grocery store. They're harming their neighbors and themselves and not actually addressing the core issue. This is why 24 countries signed a statement last week supporting military action to deter and degrade Houthi attacks. And this military action is not against Yemen, or against Yemenis. It is against the Houthi military capability which they are using to attack civilian shipping.
So, we've been very clear about what the scope of these military strikes is. Similarly, the Houthis are behaving like a terrorist organization; attacking civilians, attacking civilian shipping, attacking innocent mariners, detaining them, threatening to hijack ships, not releasing the crew of the Galaxy Leader, 25 people from five different countries.
We now have announced a designation of the Houthis as a specially designated global terrorist group, which will go into effect on February 16. This is the kind of response that the Houthis are generating. They're alienating the world community, and doing nothing to help the Palestinians, and putting the peace process in Yemen - which parties have painstakingly negotiated over the last two years, including the Houthis - in jeopardy. The Houthi behavior is misguided, and they should stop their attacks on shipping immediately.
- And at the same time, what's going on probably, as you’ve just mentioned also, that this is affecting the peace process within the Yemeni parties, and then probably your support is also getting compromised. Is that the case?
Our support for the peace process remains unshakable. I don't think that the peace effort in Yemen would be as far along had it not been for US support, and the commitment of this administration, and the priority that the President places on peace in Yemen through a Yemeni - Yemeni political negotiation and a durable ceasefire. Those remain US goals, and this is very much what we want to return to.
But unfortunately, much of the progress that has been made over the last two years, which has created a truce in Yemen, which is still holding, is being jeopardized by the militarization of the Red Sea, which is caused by the Houthi attacks, and the threats that they are posing to shipping and to the civilian population. Absent political settlement, the humanitarian and economic crises will continue to get worse.
The designation is a direct response to Houthi attacks on shipping. If there are no Houthi attacks on shipping, there is no need to designate them as a terrorist organization. If there are no Houthi attacks on shipping, there is no need for a growing coalition of countries to strike and degrade their military capability to protect international shipping.
- You’re talking about Operation Prosperity Guardian…
Prosperity Guardian is another action that the Houthi attacks have generated – a large international response, defensive in nature, solely to protect crews and international ships which the Houthis are attacking in a reckless and indiscriminate manner. They say that they are only attacking Israeli ships, but that is simply not the case. They have attacked international ships with owners and crew of all different nationalities. Even hijacking and detaining a crew from Mexico, Ukraine, the Philippines and Bulgaria. That's the behavior of pirates. That's not the behavior of a group that seeks international support for a Yemen peace effort. That's the behavior of pirates.
- Are you going to take additional measures if they continue their attacks against the international shipments?
We have been very clear that we seek de-escalation in the Red Sea, but the Houthi attacks cannot continue. We are evaluating every day the situation in the Red Sea and elsewhere in the region, and what aggressive and militaristic steps the Iranians or the Houthis might be taking. But it is our fervent hope, and we're working every day on this, to de-escalate all of these conflicts.
You've seen that American officials are working with Qatar and other countries for the release of the remaining hostages and a prolonged humanitarian pause to the fighting. We have made a strong push for more humanitarian assistance to Gaza, to address the tragic situation there. And we were very patient with the attacks on shipping until the situation became intolerable, and were forced to take action because of Houthi behavior. When their attacks stop, we can stop also.
- You don't want escalation. But nonetheless, the situation is just dragging the US into this, probably.
I fear that other parties may be wishing to escalate. And the Houthis by attacking a huge variety of ships, that was an escalation. Attacking Israel, and trying to hit the civilian populations, was an escalation. Again, these things do not help the Palestinians. They’re not bringing a single morsel of assistance or food to the Palestinian people, because of their actions. Nor are the Houthi attacks helping Yemen, which has one of the world’s largest humanitarian and economic disasters.
They should stop. And we can return the focus to the Yemen peace effort, and put more effort towards supporting the Palestinians and their legitimate aspirations for a two-state solution, which Houthi behavior frankly is complicating and undermining.
There isn't a single country in the Gulf that supports what the Houthis are doing; attacking international shipping, masquerading under the banner of support for the Palestinians, because the reality is that this behavior is contrary to supporting the Palestinians.
- Could you please elaborate more what you've been doing with the Saudis and the other countries in the region?
We're working very closely with the Saudis, other regional actors and the Yemeni parties, on the Yemen peace effort. That's been the case since the start of this administration, reflecting the priority that the President placed on ending the Yemen conflict. We have appreciated Saudi Arabia's engagement mediating between the Houthis and the Yemen government, and helping contribute a roadmap for peace in Yemen, which the Houthi and the Yemen government and regional countries support.
So ironically, while the world is focused on the Houthis’ reckless attacks on global shipping, tremendous progress was made in the past month on the peace process– captured in an announcement by the UN on December 23 last year – that an agreement has been reached. This is the best opportunity that Yemen has had for its peace process in nine years.
Why are the Houthis jeopardizing peace by behaving like an armed militia group and a terrorist organization in attacking civilian shipping? Why are they driving away the attention from the Yemen peace effort, attention Yemeni peace needs and deserves? They are choosing to sabotage all the good work that so many parties have put into creating a dream that the Yemen conflict could finally be over – why are the Houthis – trying to throw that all away? Instead of prioritizing the Yemeni people?
- What are the immediate obstacles facing this political track led by the UN?
I think the obstacles are the recklessness of the Houthi behavior. Prior to their attacks, both the Yemen government and the Houthis had approved this roadmap that the UN now is able to try to operationalize. And again, this is the most tangible progress that’s been made in the Yemen conflict in 9 years. And that’s been put in jeopardy by the indiscriminate nature of the Houthi attacks on the Red Sea shipping. What international country would support a peace effort in Yemen when one of the parties - the Houthis - is attacking the global economy? It is not the behavior of the Yemen government or any other party in Yemen that’s threatening the Yemen peace effort. It is the Houthis.
- Iran is in the picture no matter how we speak negatively about the situation. So, this is a dilemma: how you're going to deal with it?
Iran is a major threat, and in our conversations every day we talk about how to respond to the Iranian threat, especially in light of the killing of three service members in Jordan. Look at what we see Iran doing. We know that Iran is supporting, aiding and facilitating Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping. This is very convenient for Iran's regional agenda. It's not convenient for the Yemeni people, however. It's not convenient for other Arab countries.
Look at the contents of a small ship that were seized about two weeks ago by US forces enforcing UN Security Council resolutions on not smuggling, to aid the Houthis or fan the conflict in Yemen. That particular ship was filled with lethal equipment heading toward the Houthis to be used for their attacks on Red Sea shipping. So, this is the behavior of those seeking to destabilize. This is not the behavior of members of the international community. So, we need everybody to dial it back, de-escalate, and return to the legitimate and genuine peace effort in Yemen that is now threatened by Houthi attacks.
We are talking to our partners multiple times a day. We have numerous engagements that we are planning to ensure that there is the speediest possible resolution in the Red Sea, which enables a return to the Yemen peace process. All of my efforts are focused on this particular line of effort.
