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.
