TEHRAN – An Iraqi political analyst describes Yemeni fighters as “a source of pride and inspiration for Arabs and Muslims” due to their resistance against the Saudi-led war.

Ali Fahim tells the Tehran Times that the Saudi-led war on Yemen has been “a total failure”.

He also says, “We should take into account that Yemen is originally a poor country with an agricultural economy that does not have mineral resources and its people have been living in enclosed space and preoccupied with domestic wars,” says Fahim.

The following is the text of the interview:

Q: How do you measure the repercussions of the recent missile attack by Yemeni forces on the Saudi Aramco in Jeddah? 

A: The missile attack on the Saudi Aramco facility was not the first and it will not be the last. It was preceded by an attack nearly a year ago on the same facility in Khurais and Abqaiq. 

The importance of this attack, which affected the oil giant Saudi Aramco in an exceptional condition, is that it was carried out at the end of the G20 summit hosted by Riyadh and amid leaked news about the secret meeting between the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman inside the kingdom.

The attack caused a great media hype, as it came after a Saudi desire to normalize its ties with Israel, as well as the name of the cruise missile (Quds 2) that targeted Aramco. It carries the message that Ansarullah plans to improve its missile to reach Tel Aviv.

This cannot be overlooked, especially since this attack came at the stage of presidential transition in the U.S. and a shift in American policies.

There are two policies in the U.S. that may differ relatively in terms of dealing with the war in Yemen; Trump supports Riyadh and the Saudi-led coalition as he provided them with experts, weapons, and even pilots, while Biden’s policy tends to refuse U.S. meddling in Yemen. 

Biden has pledged not to supply arms to Saudi Arabia and reduce U.S. support for the ongoing war in Yemen to the lowest levels.

This strike targeted the Saudi economic artery as Aramco represents a great symbol for the Saudi kingdom; and on the ground, the attack affected oil exports and navigation in the Red Sea.

This is why we have seen global oil prices rise to a record level, and we can measure the effectiveness and significance of this strike by observing the Saudi reaction, as it lodged a complaint in the Security Council and considered the strike a threat to global navigation in the region.

“Indeed, Yemenis have become a source of pride and inspiration for Arabs and Muslims because of their amazing achievements that must be studied in institutes and universities around the world.”Q: Do you think that the Saudi-led war has made a significant achievement in Yemen?

A: Absolutely there is no achievement for the Saudi-led coalition on Yemeni territory. After nearly six years of a fierce war in which all types of weapons, even internationally prohibited ones, were used by an army that was considered one of the advanced armies in the world in terms of arms, training, possession of modern technologies, cooperation with American and British advisors and even the Israelis who contribute directly to the war, Saudis failed to undermine Ansarullah’s influence in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia defined its political goals to restore what they call “Yemeni legitimacy” and to return the ousted Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, while their military goal is intended to eliminate the Houthi group to secure the borders of the Saudi kingdom in the south. 

Today the Saudi government faces a large budget deficit and high prices of fuel and services. During the first nine months of 2020, the deficit reached 184.11 billion (Saudi) riyals, or approximately $ 49.11 billion.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Saudi Arabia spent huge sums of money to buy weapons to continue the war on Yemen. The U.S. Security Assistance Monitor indicates that Saudi Arabia has spent 82 billion dollars on arms purchase from the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, Spain, and Italy, which includes the purchase of weapons, ammunition as well as military training personnel, making Saudi Arabia the third in the world in terms of arms spending after China and the U.S. 

The Washington Institute for Middle East Studies also stated in a report that Saudi Arabia spends five to six billion dollars monthly in the war on Yemen.

The question is that what has it achieved throughout this war? The answer is a total failure!  Saudi Arabia could not return what it calls legitimacy to the country and failed to undermine the Houthis; on the contrary, the result is that the Houthis have increased their military strength and are targeting new targets inside Saudi Arabia after their combat capabilities developed, especially missiles and drones, as on the ground they are achieving great victories. 

Now Saudi Arabia seeks solutions and mediators to lift the siege and create a buffer zone between its borders and the Houthis in the southern provinces. 

Q: How do you describe the Yemeni resistance struggle?

A: Indeed, Yemenis have become a source of pride and inspiration for Arabs and Muslims because of their amazing achievements that must be studied in institutes and universities around the world.

So we should take into account that Yemen is originally a poor country with an agricultural economy that does not have mineral resources and its people have been living in an enclosed space and preoccupied with domestic wars.

All of this has made the Yemeni citizen a man who is stubborn to be broken. He is strong and a fighter who does not accept humiliation, subservience, and never compromises on his principles.

This was made under a sincere, faithful, wise leadership who never gives up to the forces of global arrogant powers. Al this is because of an Islamic doctrine molded in the form of a Hussaini faith which loves martyrdom for the sake of truth. The Yemeni leadership has made all its efforts in forming the resistant Yemeni man.

Q: How do you see Saudi policies and performance in terms of human rights in Yemen?

A: Saudi Arabia is committing crimes that endanger humanity in Yemen and violate human rights blatantly through brutal aggression and the cruel siege that it imposes on Yemenis, preventing them to get access to medicine, food, and oil products. Attempts have been made to starve the Yemeni people.

The Saudi-led coalition, amid the silence of the global community and international organizations and the negligence or even the Islamic and Arab countries, commits war crimes after it bribed regimes and organizations to support this obvious injustice.  The world is witnessing innocent citizens who face death because of daily bombing operations, starvation, and diseases. 

It is time for the global community to stand in face of these crimes while the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, warned some days ago about the worst famine in Yemen that may threaten the lives of millions of people for decades.

5- It is said that after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. has adopted the approach of Samuel Huntington (who theorized the clash of civilizations), to perpetuate conflict and create a permanent imaginary enemy, this time Muslims replacing the Soviets.  This is made to portray Muslims as a threat to the existence and national security of Americans. What is your analysis?

The U.S. is resorting to the fourth generation of wars that means raising domestic conflicts and distracting Islamic nations by creating a crisis inside to pave the way for division and fragmentation.

The role of America and Israel is to monitor and sell weapons and then reap the fruits without effort or fatigue, and this strategy has been applied in the Arab East and the Arabian Peninsula, so Arab human and financial capacities have been exhausted in futile wars that have brought nothing except destruction and devastation to the region.

If this money had been spent on sustainable development in these countries and investment in training Arab experts and scientists, we would have been on the list of advanced countries.

Countries that have financial power, such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, are fueling strife and conflicts in all Arab countries and igniting wars all around the Islamic world, from Iraq to Syria, Libya, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Morocco.

All of these wars are under U.S. supervision, and to serve Israel's security in the region. If Washington decides to end the war in Yemen, the Saudis won’t dare to oppose and they won’t prolong it more; but Yemen has all characteristics to be on the American blacklist, including the growth of the Islamic faith, opposition to American hegemony, involvement in the axis of resistance, and the adoption of anti-American and Israeli slogans and its important geographical location. All these and other factors have convinced the Americans that Yemen is going to be a potential power that may challenge Israel and its allies in the (Persian) Gulf countries.