Houthi Explosives, Attacks Squander Griffiths’ Peace Efforts

United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths speaks during an interview with Reuters in Abu Dhabi, UAE, October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Tarek Fahmy/File Photo
United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths speaks during an interview with Reuters in Abu Dhabi, UAE, October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Tarek Fahmy/File Photo
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Houthi Explosives, Attacks Squander Griffiths’ Peace Efforts

United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths speaks during an interview with Reuters in Abu Dhabi, UAE, October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Tarek Fahmy/File Photo
United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths speaks during an interview with Reuters in Abu Dhabi, UAE, October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Tarek Fahmy/File Photo

At a time when the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths is discussing details of the entry of fuel and oil byproducts to Yemen through the port of Hodeidah, Houthis sent out an explosive boat into Red Sea waters, threatening international trade and navigation.

Despite almost two years passing since the Yemeni government and Houthis signed the UN-sponsored Stockholm Agreement, many of its stipulations remain unmet.

The deal involves the Hodeidah, Ras Issa, and Salif ports, includes a prisoner swap mechanism and covers an understanding about Taiz governorate.

Houthi militias have locked their control of Hodeidah city and its port for over five years now, and also have blocked UN experts from inspecting the rundown Safer oil tanker which is anchored off Ras Issa port.

Any explosion at Safer, which is carrying around 1.1 million barrels of oil, will cause a catastrophic oil spill with irreversible environmental damage.

The official Yemeni news agency, Saba, said Parliament Speaker Sultan al-Burkani informed Griffiths that the government has grown impatient towards the Houthi militia’s persistent breach of the Stockholm Agreement and their escalated attacks on various fronts.

Burkani also told Griffiths that the government is considering to “freeze the Stockholm Agreement and possibly cancel it completely.”

The Saudi-led Arab Coalition, allied with Yemen's government, said Monday it foiled two attacks launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, including an explosives-laden boat dispatched into the Red Sea near international shipping lanes.

Arab Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said in a statement that the remotely controlled boat was spotted late Sunday.

Malki described the attempted boat attack as a “terrorist attack” that threatens commercial shipping routes in the vital Bab al-Mandeb strait, used for oil shipments from the Gulf to Europe, as well as goods from Asia to Europe.

He also confirmed that Houthis have taken Hodeidah as a launchpad for their ballistic missiles, drones and explosive boats.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.