BEIRUT - Tehran Times interviews Major General Abdullah Al-Jafari, a member of Yemen's Shura Council and former Air Force spokesman, to discuss the recent maneuvers of the Yemeni Armed Forces’ naval and land forces on the western coast within the framework of the battle of the promised conquest and holy jihad and in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.

On October 27, Yemen started conducting military exercises on the Red Sea coast in support of Gaza and Lebanon. According to the Saba news agency, ground and naval forces conducted tactical military exercises along Yemen’s western coast, particularly in the Hudaydah province of the Red Sea.

The maneuver simulated how to respond to large-scale attacks from enemy forces in four virtual waves on Yemeni territory, involving various hostile naval ships and military vessels. The exercises included simulations where forces defended Yemeni territory against enemy forces attempting to seize control of a village through an aerial assault. The maneuver comes within the framework of “the battle for promised conquest and holy jihad”, which is being fought by its forces in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.

The maneuver is codenamed “Le Yasoua Wojohakum” (We will make you sad).

Following is the text of the interview:

First, how do you assess the strength of the resistance in the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon?

With modest capabilities, Gaza, under siege for decades, is challenging an unequal war. The Zionist enemy uses internationally banned weapons in its aggression against the people of Palestine and Lebanon. It is provided with logistical, intelligence, military and material support by the US and NATO. They use Israel as a military base and weapons stockpile. The goal is to tighten control over the region and weaken the valiant resistance movements, which in turn drain the enemy and hasten its downfall.

The resistance has inflicted heavy losses on the enemy as it has failed to exterminate the Palestinian people and establish a Zionist state extending from the Nile to the Euphrates called the “New Middle East”. 

The holy battle planned by the martyr hero Sinwar has thwarted these ambitions and revived the Palestinian cause. It has also thwarted the normalization conspiracy. 

Maj. Gen. Al-Jafari says ‘there’s no room for neutrality’ in Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon The resistance in Palestine and Lebanon proves, more than ever before, that it is more cohesive, valiant, steadfast and innovative in promoting military capabilities that have penetrated the strategic depth of the Zionist entity. 

For the first time in history after seven decades, the resistance has imposed new rules of engagement. Despite the siege, crimes of genocide and destruction of infrastructure, the resistance, which started from scratch, has grown in strength until it has become a source of confusion for the (Israeli) army, which is ranked the fifth strongest army in the world.

It is also unable to invade southern Lebanon because it faces legitimate resistance with a solid doctrine that believes in the justice of its cause. This is happening while the regimes that have normalized relations with the enemy persist in their failed conspiracies against the peoples of the region and their sanctities.

What is the message to Yemenis from the “Le Yasoua Wojohakum” maneuvers?

In light of the escalating aggression against the people of Palestine and Lebanon and the ongoing American and British threat to the people of Yemen, the Yemeni armed forces decided to raise combat readiness and prepare for any potential aggression on Yemen’s diverse coastal, mountainous and desert terrain. The maneuver has also been attended by the General Mobilization Forces.

It is an affirmation that Yemen will not allow the trinity of the axis of aggression – the US, Britain and Israel – to single out the people of Palestine and Lebanon, no matter the cost. Yemen is fully prepared to engage directly in defending them if the battle entails it.

“We (Yemen and Iran) are united by religious, human and moral ties”. The maneuver also demonstrated the growth of Yemeni military industries, as a drone submarine called “Al-Qari’ah” was unveiled. It has tremendous capabilities that enable it to bypass enemy battleships and repel any landing, in addition to a series of combat technologies that are being developed successively.  It also has tactical capabilities in clearing mines and blowing up giant naval destroyers.

Today, Yemen – leadership, army and people – is proceeding with industrial power and targeting hostile strategic sites in the occupied Palestinian territories. This marks a new era of resistance that the region has not witnessed, thus implementing a complete siege on the enemy in coordination with the joint room of the Axis of Resistance.

Don’t the Yemenis fear the continuous Western threats regarding their insistence on supporting the people of the region?

From a religious, humanitarian and moral standpoint, no one cares about Western threats. As the leader of the Yemeni revolution, His Eminence Sayyed Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, has repeatedly emphasized they have failed over a decade to bring the Yemenis to their knees through the Saudi-Emirati coalition. 

We are defending our sovereignty. We believe in the justice of the nation’s cause and the sanctity of its sanctities. History will record that we were the first to target hostile American warships. We are fighting a battle between right and wrong. The world has not moved a finger in the face of the crimes of genocide.  

As far as we are concerned, we will not abandon this option even if it requires the shedding of all our blood. It is a fateful existential battle. We will not stop targeting warships until the siege on the Palestinian people is lifted and the war stops.

 How does Sanaa assess the Iranian approach toward regional developments?

Iran has been the first to take the initiative to open a Yemeni embassy on its territory. The relationship between Sanaa and Tehran is solid and distinct. An exceptional people and a powerful international one, we are united by religious, human and moral ties.

We do not deny Iran’s support for Yemen and the peoples of the region in confronting the Zionist-American imperialism. Iran’s position has been unwavering. Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, it has spared no effort in supporting the Palestinian cause. It has armed and empowered the resistance movements and repelled the arrogance of imperialist colonialism that is primarily fueled by Washington. 

“Today, there are two teams in the region, no third: a team with the resistance and a team with the Zionists.” The enemy’s miserable confusion today is owed to Iranian support, which is accelerating the pace of the fall of this cancerous structure in the region.  Iran is no longer Israel’s policeman, as was the traitorous Shah, who was involved in enabling the enemies to plunder the resources of his people, impoverish them, and divide the region. He (Shah) was also involved in the June 1967 setback, when he provided great facilities to the Zionists.

After more than a year of the Zionist-American genocide, do you think that the regional governments will proceed with the normalization process with the usurping entity?

Thanks to God and the resistance, the “Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa” has thwarted the shameful normalization project and restored momentum to the Palestinian cause.

The normalization step is not a new issue. It dates back to the beginning of the Zionist project in the eighteenth century when the Ottoman occupation was succeeded by the French and British occupation, which in turn promoted Takfiri Wahhabism as an ideology for the first Saudi state. With prior monitoring and planning, this geographical location was chosen in order to tighten control over the geopolitical map of the region, especially since it has strategic seaports and enormous oil wealth. Therefore, it was never surprising to openly announce their already-established bilateral ties with the usurping entity.

Despite the genocidal war (in Gaza), some regimes have not severed their warm relations with the Zionist occupation. When Yemen imposed a naval blockade, they rushed to secure alternative land routes and supply it with oil, material and military needs, along with intercepting missiles targeting hostile locations in the occupied Palestinian territories.

There is no room for neutrality. Today, there are two teams in the region, no third: a team with the resistance and a team with the Zionists. The traitorous regimes have remained silent because they are fully aware that the demise of this functional colonial entity will inevitably be followed by their own downfall. 

We are certain that victory is inevitable and that global arrogance will fail again. The resistance is at the height of its strength and is capable of withstanding. We only rely on it, but on the will of the peoples of the region. 

An agreement was signed between Somalia and Ethiopia in January 2024 under which Somalia granted Ethiopia a port on the Red Sea overlooking the Gulf of Aden. It led to a series of changes, the most important result of which was facilitating the entry of Israel into the African continent. How will Yemen deal with this threat? 

Since ancient times, ambitions have been made to occupy the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The countries surrounding it had close relations with the Soviet Union. In the early 1990s, and with the Soviet collapse, these countries also collapsed, which facilitated American control over them.  

In April 1993, Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia (supported by the Zionists) and (Ethiopia) became landlocked. Ethiopia has long aspired to acquire a sea outlet. Due to the naval blockade imposed by Yemen in the Red Sea, the Zionist entity has found an opportune opportunity to enable Ethiopia to do so. 

The memorandum of understanding agreed between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland President Muse Bihi, stipulates that Ethiopia leases about 20 km of sea access in the port of Berbera, north of the Somaliland region, for half a century. 

The aim is to build an Israeli military base on the Red Sea to confront Yemen. This is similar to the case of the Yemeni Mayun Island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which the UAE granted to Israeli experts.

Yemen’s legitimate sovereign right necessitates resistance to preserve Yemeni national security and repel the Zionist threat. Yemen, which previously resisted the takfiri movements fabricated by the West, and which acted as proxy mercenaries, will not allow Zionist rampage no matter the cost.