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Yemen’s Defense Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Military Will Respond Firmly to Any Houthi Escalation

Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohsen Mohammed al-Daeri (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohsen Mohammed al-Daeri (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Yemen’s Defense Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Military Will Respond Firmly to Any Houthi Escalation

Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohsen Mohammed al-Daeri (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohsen Mohammed al-Daeri (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohsen Mohammed al-Daeri said the country’s armed forces and all military formations are at a high state of readiness to respond firmly to any attacks or provocations by the Iran-aligned Houthi militias.

In the first remarks from a senior Yemeni military official following US strikes, al-Daeri said the Houthis bear full responsibility for the recent escalation, the imposition of international sanctions, and the militarization of regional waters, which have worsened the humanitarian and economic situation for Yemenis.

Al-Daeri warned the Houthis that all military formations under the Presidential Leadership Council are operating in close coordination and stand united against any escalation by the group.

The warning comes after the US launched a large-scale military campaign on March 15 targeting Houthi sites and leaders in response to their continued attacks on commercial shipping and international navigation in the Red Sea.

“Our brave armed forces and all military units under the Presidential Leadership Council are at a high level of readiness to respond firmly to any attacks or reckless actions by the Houthi militia,” al-Daeri told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“There is strong coordination among all these forces through the Joint Operations Command, which includes representatives from each formation, ensuring a unified front against any escalation by the terrorist Houthi militias,” he added.

The minister also said the Iran-aligned Houthis have rejected all peace initiatives and opted for destructive escalation, harming Yemeni lives and threatening international security by targeting global shipping routes.

“Despite the Presidential Leadership Council and the government making concessions to ease the suffering of the Yemeni people and responding to peace efforts led by Saudi Arabia and the Coalition to Support Legitimacy, the Houthi militias have remained defiant,” he said.

“They have dismissed these initiatives and escalated their attacks, targeting livelihoods, oil infrastructure, and extending their terrorism to international waters, disrupting global trade and security,” added al-Daeri.

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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon

The former US special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said the maritime border agreement struck between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 and the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of last year show that a land border demarcation “is within reach.”

“We can get to a deal but there has to be political willingness,” he said.

“The agreement of the maritime boundary was unique because we’d been trying to work on it for over 10 years,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I understood that a simple diplomatic push for a line was not going to work. It had to be a more complicated and comprehensive agreement. And there was a real threat that people didn’t realize that if we didn’t reach an agreement we would have ended up in a conflict - in a hot conflict - or war over resources.”

He said there is a possibility to reach a Lebanese-Israeli land border agreement because there’s a “provision that mandated the beginning of talks on the land boundary.”

“I believe with concerted effort they can be done quickly,” he said, adding: “It is within reach.”

Hochstein described communication with Hezbollah as “complicated,” saying “I never had only one interlocutor with Hezbollah .... and the first step is to do shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon, Lebanon and Lebanon, and then you had to go to Israel and do shuttle diplomacy between the different factions” there.

“The reality of today and the reality of 2022 are different. Hezbollah had a lock on the political system in Lebanon in the way it doesn’t today.”

North of Litani

The 2024 ceasefire agreement requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to take full operational control of the south Litani region, all the way up to the border. It requires Hezbollah to demilitarize and move further north of the Litani region, he said.

“I don’t want to get into the details of other violations,” he said, but stated that the ceasefire works if both conditions are met.

Lebanon’s opportunity

“Lebanon can rewrite its future ... but it has to be a fundamental change,” he said.

“There is so much potential in Lebanon and if you can bring back opportunity and jobs - and through economic and legal reforms in the country - I think that the future is very bright,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Hezbollah is not trying to control the politics and remember that Hezbollah is just an arm of Iran” which “should not be imposing its political will in Lebanon, Israel should not be imposing its military will in Lebanon, Syria should not. No one should. This a moment for Lebanon to make decisions for itself,” he added.