Hadi: We have Exhausted Peaceful Means to Prevent Rebels from Implementing Iran’s Agenda

Yemen's President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York. Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Yemen's President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York. Lucas Jackson / Reuters
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Hadi: We have Exhausted Peaceful Means to Prevent Rebels from Implementing Iran’s Agenda

Yemen's President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York. Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Yemen's President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York. Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi said the legitimate government has depleted all peaceful means to prevent the rebels from implementing Iran’s expansionism plans in the region.

“We are ending our third year of the war imposed on our country by the Houthis,” Hadi said at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

“The rebels have swept the cities of Yemen and taken the entire country hostage while implementing an Iranian strategy” in the conflict, he added.

Violence and destruction perpetrated by Houthi militias in Yemen are fully supported by Iran, Hadi stressed, accusing the Persian State of working to destabilize the region “by supporting groups that are out of control.”

“Sustainable peace cannot be achieved unless Iran stops interfering in the affairs of the region,” he noted.

Hadi reiterated his keenness to reach a political solution to the Yemeni crisis in order to establish peace in the country.

“I reaffirm […] our readiness to stop the war and reach peace; we are not advocates of war or revenge, but advocates of peace and harmony,” Hadi told delegations attending the Assembly’s annual general debate, stressing that he will continue, to “extend my hand to sustainable peace because we feel our full responsibility for all our steadfast Yemeni people.”

The Yemeni President expressed his thanks to Saudi Arabia and said that it has a leading role in relieving the humanitarian crisis through its ongoing support from the King Salman Centre for Humanitarian Relief (KSRELIEF).

He also declared the legitimate government’s readiness “to provide all necessary facilities for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all areas of Yemen from Saada to Mehra, especially to the areas which are under the control of the rebels.”

Hadi called on the UN to force the rebels to implement UN Security Council resolutions in order to allow humanitarian assistance to reach all the areas of the country.



Sisi Steps Up Criticism of Ethiopia, Rejects ‘Pressure’ on Egypt Over Nile Dam

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency)
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Sisi Steps Up Criticism of Ethiopia, Rejects ‘Pressure’ on Egypt Over Nile Dam

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday stepped up his criticism of Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), built on the Nile’s main tributary, which Cairo fears will threaten its water supply.

He rejected what he described as “unilateral measures” along the Nile Basin, warning: “Anyone who thinks Egypt will turn a blind eye to threats to its water security is mistaken.”

Speaking at a joint press conference in Cairo with visiting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Sisi said the water issue had become “part of a broader campaign of pressure on Egypt to achieve other objectives.”

“We will remain vigilant and will take all measures guaranteed under international law to safeguard our people’s existential resources,” he vowed.

Sisi stressed that Egypt does not oppose development in Nile Basin countries but insisted such projects must not affect the volume of water reaching Egypt. “The best way to deal with the Nile Basin is to respect everyone’s interests,” he said.

Negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, under African Union mediation, have been stalled since April 2021, prompting Cairo to appeal to the UN Security Council for pressure on Addis Ababa.

Egypt, which relies on the Nile for 98% of its water, receives an annual quota of 55.5 billion cubic meters. It is already below the global water poverty line, with only 500 cubic meters per person annually, according to the Ministry of Irrigation.

Sisi noted that Egypt and Sudan together receive just 4% of the Nile Basin’s 1,600 billion cubic meters of water, amounting to 85 billion cubic meters.

“This is the only source of life for the two downstream states,” he said, adding that Egypt had never called for “fair water sharing”, which would mean dividing the entire basin’s volume.

Egypt hopes Uganda’s current chairmanship of the Nile Basin Initiative’s consultation mechanism can foster consensus among basin states.

The two leaders inaugurated the Egypt-Uganda Business Forum in Cairo and witnessed the signing of five agreements on water resources, agricultural cooperation and food security, investment, mutual visa exemptions for official passports, and diplomatic cooperation.

The talks come just weeks before Ethiopia plans to inaugurate GERD in September. Former Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs Mohamed Hegazy said Cairo is counting on Kampala’s role in dam-related consultations.

Relations between Cairo and Kampala have been warming, with Uganda recently hosting a “2+2” dialogue between the foreign and water ministers of both countries. Sisi said Egypt views Uganda as a key partner in the southern Nile Basin and seeks to make it a primary beneficiary of Egypt’s development support mechanisms.