Yemeni Chief of staff Maj.Gen Taher al-Aqeeli said that Houthis’ announcement of a new naval missile system means "without any doubt that navigation in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and even the Arabian Gulf has become at its highest levels of danger since the rebels have taken over the power in Sana'a."
Aqeeli stressed that Houthis have revealed their violations of all the international laws and regulations.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that many vital areas in the Gulf region have become within the range of Houthi weapons, which means that the international community needs to put an end to the Houthi violations that are supported by the Iranian regime.
Notably, the Supreme Political Council formed jointly between the Houthis and the party of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh has issued a statement announcing the unveiling of a new naval missile system.
"The continuous and frank threats made by the Houthi insurgency and allies of deposed Ali Saleh about the security of maritime navigation are due to the lack of monitoring of the maritime area stretching from Amman till the center of Arabian Sea," Major General Samir al-Haj, commander of the Yemeni army reserve forces, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Haj noted that one of the most prominent challenges is the inability to distinguish between commercial ships that are loaded with goods from those that are loaded with arms and missiles hidden between the goods, in addition to the difficulty to control the navigation on the coasts away from the areas of anchoring vessels.
Houthis are living under great psychological pressure and feel insecure, which is why they issued a statement proving their possession of sophisticated weapons and missiles that threaten the entire maritime navigation, Haj added, pointing out that the situation of the Houthi insurgency comes after Saudi-led coalition has closed land, sea and air ports and issued a list of 40 wanted.
“A serious and firm stance must be taken by the Security Council to support the coalition forces without ambiguity and neutrality, to issue a new resolution instead of the useless statements of condemnation and to work to enhance UN resolution (2216) and insist on its implementation,” Haj stressed.
