On November 19, the Yemeni Armed Forces seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route and took its crew members hostage over the Israeli aggression against Gaza. With this step, the Yemenis have forced the major countries to reconsider their absolute support for the Israeli genocide in Gaza. The Yemeni army has also noted that through its savage acts the Israeli entity is involved in sabotaging global trade, 12% of which passes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. 

According to a 2018 survey by the US Energy Information Administration, roughly 6.2 million barrels of oil pass daily through the Red Sea. Besides, the total oil flows through this strait account for about 9% of the total oil transported by sea; about 3.6 million barrels per day also move through it towards Europe, while 2.6 million barrels per day flow through it to Asian markets such as Singapore, China and India. More than 21,000 naval vessels pass through the Strait annually, at a rate of 57 vessels per day, which constitutes 12% of the volume of global trade. Also, 98% of the incoming goods that pass through the Suez Canal pass through Bab al-Mandab. Hence, the significance of this strait is that it is a mandatory passage to reduce the costs of shipping goods and oil.  It is not the only corridor for shipments, but rather the shortest distance and time between oil sources and consuming countries, according to data collected from Bloomberg tanker tracking. This will definitely influence the prices at a time when the world is suffering from an unprecedented economic crisis. Therefore, the international community’s silence on the horrific genocide in Gaza will not be in their interests and must make an urgent strategic choice.

For further details, the Tehran Times has conducted an exclusive interview with Major General Abdullah Al-Jafri, a senior commander of the Yemeni army and former spokesman for the Yemeni Air Force.

1- First of all, in what context do you place the seizure of the Israeli ship?

Of course, we put it in the context of implementing the directives of the leader of the revolution, His Eminence the scholar and Mujahid, Sayyed Abdul Malik bin Badr al-Din al-Houthi (May the Almighty protect him), as well as an implementation of his statements on the ground, as he has given, in more than one speech, directions to the military leadership in Sanaa, that you must seize any Israeli ship, whether civilian or military, carrying the Zionist flag, meaning every ship in the Zionist entity is considered a target. Accordingly, this operation has been carried out; a brave, heroic and honorable operation that has raised the head of every Yemeni, Arab and Muslim citizen and every free person in the world in light of today’s confrontation with this usurping Zionist entity, which is committing heinous crimes that shame humanity and are reaching the level of genocide and crimes against humanity targeting Palestinian children and women.  So, based on religious, national, moral, humanitarian and historical responsibility, Yemen has announced it loudly, through the media, and officially by entering directly into the confrontation with the Zionist entity.  It has targeted a number of military operations against the strategic depth of the Zionist entity.  Also, now that the Gaza Strip is being exposed to the Israeli-American aggression, also in response to the demands of the Yemeni people, more than a million people have marched in support of Palestine. 

This decision (seizure) has been taken by the leader of the Yemeni Revolution, Sayyed Houthi, and has been implemented on the ground through the military forces of the army and the Yemeni popular committees, specifically from the naval forces and coastal defense unit. Obviously, the Zionist enemy realises that Yemen will not stand idly by as the leader of the revolution has assured the Palestinian people that they are not alone, based on our close Arab, Islamic and religious ties, and with all possible military options. Meanwhile, the ship is still under investigation for all the crew on board (estimated at about 52 individuals), and during the coming days, all Israeli ships will be under surveillance. Here I am talking about Israeli ships because some are trying to portray this act of resistance as piracy or a terrorist act that threatens international peace and security, and that threatens the global energy source, as they claim.  This is not the case. The official Yemeni statement has already urged all countries of the world not to deal with any Israeli ships – whether civilian or military – because they will be targeted in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.  “A tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye” is the rule that the Yemenis have established, meaning what is required is to open the Rafah crossing in return for Bab al-Mandab. This is the rule upon which Yemen’s revolutionary and military leadership, which has been threatened by the Americans – through Oman – not to continue its battle with the Zionist entity, in exchange for some concessions, including completely opening Sanaa airport, disbursing salaries, and a number of concessions related to the humanitarian situation.

2- How do you respond to those who accuse Yemen of threatening international shipping traffic?

Through monitoring the Hebrew media, which has issued such statements, we have realised that the enemy is in a state of confusion and a state of miserable failure as well.  So today you see calls for help from Washington and NATO because it knows that without this support, whether at the military, economic, material, logistical or intelligence level, it would not have been able to withstand 24 hours in front of the mujahideen of all the pro-Resistance factions. The enemy does not want to open any military front outside the occupied Palestinian territories. Hence, the goal of this inflammatory speech is to form an international alliance that will defend it. The Zionist entity wants the so-called international community to intervene to protect this international shipping lane, considering that it is the responsibility of the world, not Israel.  On the other hand, the Yemeni armed forces, army, and popular committees have not attacked any ship, whether civilian or military, of any other country as confirmed in the military statement issued by Brigadier General Yahya Sarie.  The issue is related to the Zionist entity only, and does not threaten the interests of the international community.  But the enemy is looking for a way out of this predicament it has fallen into.  Such statements no longer fool anyone, these false statements are similar to the inflammatory speeches of the coalition of aggression against Yemen, which is an Israeli aggression.  They have invaded Yemen to secure the so-called “legitimacy,” and in the end, this project has failed.  The coalition has thrown the so-called legitimacy and its president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour, into the dustbin of history, trampling it underfoot. The people today have risen to a high level of awareness and have fully realised this conspiracy, its danger, its goals, and its historical dimension, nothing less and nothing more.

3- What do you think are the results of this process?  To what extent will Yemen be involved in the battle to defend Palestine?

The Yemeni people and their revolutionary and military leadership have stood alongside their fellow oppressed Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip because this is a principled and firm position based on their religious, national, moral, historical and humanitarian responsibility. Besides, this is one of the main goals of the “September 21 Revolution,” the most important of which is ensuring the liberation and independence of each and every inch of the occupied territories as the “September 21 Revolution” transcends geographical borders. It is the revolution of the Arab and Islamic nations. It defends justice for all citizens of this nation in the face of the American-British-French Zionist invasion and occupation.  Today, we are facing the so-called criminal terrorists, a colonialist gang trying to threaten us through its hypocritical laws that they always drafted to secure their own interests and economic ambitions in the region.  Today we have become in a stage of “guerrilla warfare,” and the laws of nature apply to us in light of the crimes committed against children and women, the destruction of infrastructure, and the violation of human rights.  International laws have become empty slogans.  They claim to fight terrorism, while they themselves are the ones who create terrorism.  Today, they are the ones who violate all of these international agreements, laws, and conventions.  Where do we stand with the United Nations, whose resolutions have not yet been implemented since 1969, namely Resolutions 242 and 338?  They also launched an aggression against Yemen under false pretexts. Meanwhile, the West applies double standards; it only exercises force on those who do not have the ability to defend their national sovereignty.  We confirm through the Tehran Times that Yemen has engaged in this war in principle and will continue to do so because the Palestinian issue is a central issue for the people of this Arab and Islamic nation and not just the issue of the Palestinian people.  “The September 21 Revolution” is committed to the central Palestinian cause until liberation from the filthy Zionist occupation. We do not recognise any of those agreements that they always talk about in their media and through their cheap Arab regimes that serve this Zionist entity, especially the so-called “Camp David Agreement” , “Wadi Araba Agreement” , “Madrid Conference” , “Oslo” etc., which legitimize the Zionist entity to remain perched on the chests of the Palestinian people and occupy these sacred Palestinian lands. We work in accordance with those principles, constants, blood links, and also our tolerant Islamic faith that requires us to protect the sacred sites. There are no red lines, and there is no specific time.

By Sondos Al-Asaad