The Yemeni government has renewed its call on Lebanon to shut down the media operations of the Iran-backed Houthi movement, as Sanaa continues to warn the international community about escalating risks to maritime navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden caused by the group’s ongoing attacks.
Speaking at the 55th session of the Council of Arab Information Ministers in Cairo, Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani urged the Lebanese government to “halt the media activities of the Houthi group,” which he said operates outlets and platforms from Beirut’s southern suburbs with direct Iranian support to broadcast “hate speech, incitement, and disinformation.”
Al-Eryani stressed that these platforms - chief among them the Houthi channel al-Masirah - are not ordinary media outlets but “an integral part of an Iranian operations room that legitimizes violence, fuels sectarian conflict, and provides propaganda cover for organized crimes committed against civilians in Yemen.”
He warned that this media apparatus constitutes “a direct threat to Arab national security.”
The minister stressed that the “media battle is no less important than the military one,” noting that Iran continues to assist militias through extensive media and cyber networks, alongside direct military support including the smuggling of weapons, drones, and missiles in open violation of international resolutions.
He called on Arab states to adopt a unified stance preventing “any militia or terrorist organization from engaging in media, political, or financial activity on their territory against another Arab state.”
He said that such breaches must be confronted collectively, urging the development of a responsible Arab media system that “protects truth and counters disinformation.”
Warnings in London
More explicit warnings over maritime threats were delivered separately in London by Yemen’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and permanent representative to the International Maritime Organization, Yasin Saeed Noman, during the 34th IMO Assembly.
Noman said the Houthis, since seizing parts of Yemen with Iranian backing, have turned the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea into “an open military operations zone” as part of Iran’s strategy to project its influence across international waterways.
He revealed that over the past two years the Houthis have launched more than 228 attacks using surface-to-surface missiles and drones, targeting more than 115 commercial vessels, sinking five of them, killing and injuring crew members, and detaining dozens.
The ambassador warned that the attacks have caused “major economic losses” and pose a real threat to trade between Asia and Europe. He praised support from the UK, Saudi Arabia, and others in strengthening Yemen’s coast guard to counter piracy and terrorism, and called for increased assistance to Yemen’s Maritime Affairs Authority to combat pollution and safeguard navigation.
