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This is proxy war against Iran
They have responded
with airstrikes and vowed to defend the legitimate government.
Both the US and the Saudis think it is legitimate to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.
Does this sound like what happened somewhere else?
Ukraine last year, anyone?
Anyone smell a whiff of hypocrisy and double standards?
The
US and its ally Saudi Arabia (that likes chopping heads off , like
another orgnanisation) have denounced the agrresssion of the Houthi
rebels who have taken over in Yemen and have the legitimate president
on the run.
Both the US and the Saudis think it is legitimate to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.
Does this sound like what happened somewhere else?
Ukraine last year, anyone?
Anyone smell a whiff of hypocrisy and double standards?
BREAKING
NEWS: Saudi Arabia starts bombing Yemen - envoy
Saudi Arabian forces, joined by nine other countries, have launched a military operation in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels, the Saudi ambassador to the US said. The offensive, which started with airstrikes, will also involve “other military assets.”
Reuters / Fahd Shadeed
RT,
25 March, 2015, 23:49 Moscow time
According
to Ambassador Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, the military operation in
Yemen started at 7 p.m. EST (11 p.m. GMT). The US is not
participating in the operation, the envoy stressed.
Al
Arabiya reported that warplanes of the Royal Saudi Air Force bombed
positions of Yemen’s Houthi militia, targeting their air defenses.
Meanwhile,
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait
issued a joint statement saying that they “decided
to repel Houthi militias, Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State) in the
country.”
The Gulf states said they were responding to a “major threat” to
the stability of the region, saying that their cause is to “repel
Houthi aggression”
in Yemen.
"...Launched military operations in support of the people of Yemen and their legitimate government."
DETAILS
TO FOLLOW
Saudi Arabia moves heavy arms to border with chaos-stricken Yemen
RT,
Saudi Arabia is deploying a significant task force to the border with neighboring Yemen, where Houthi Shiite rebels allegedly forced the president to leave the country. President Hadi has been asking the UN to approve the use of foreign forces in Yemen.
The situation in Yemen remains murky, with Houthi militants claiming capture of the southern seaport of Aden, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s stronghold. The fighters say the city of Aden is now under their control and they're arresting the president's supporters there.
The rebels claim Hadi has fled the country, and announced a 20 million riyal ($100,000) reward for Hadi's capture, Lebanese-based Al-Manar TV reported, citing the rebels' representatives. While two of the president's aides have said he remains in Aden and has no intention of leaving the country, later reports claim he has left Yemen.
Yemen's president has left the country on a boat from Aden, officials told AP. Hadi is now traveling by sea to the neighboring country of Djibouti, Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh's secretary told RIA Novosti.
Local residents informed Reuters that Houthi fighters have overrun Al-Anad airbase and entered Aden, arresting the defense minister.
.
Elements of the Yemeni army who have sided with the rebel fighters have seized control of the Aden international airport, according to Al Mayadeen TV. The airport representatives told AP it was closed with flights canceled for security reasons and the worsening situation in the city.
BREAKING: President Hadi left by water with Saudi diplomats. shown in the picture Saudi mission Aden waters. #Yemen
The objective of the Saudi Arabian troops remains uncertain and even the US, Riyadh’s major ally, is not sure what the House of Saud has on its mind regarding the long-lasting political turmoil of its southern neighbor.
The opinions of US officials contacted by Reuters on the issue are divided. Two said that the concentration of artillery systems and armor on the Saudi border with Yemen have defensive purposes, while other government sources were not so sure.
A US source that described the concentration of Saudi troops as “significant” made a guess that Riyadh might be getting ready to strike the Houthis if they attempt to seize the residence of Yemen’s legitimate president. It cannot be excluded that Saudi Arabia might use its Air Force to strike rebels near Aden.
#Saudi army is amassing on #Yemen border for a possible invasion after green light from all #Gulf states minus #Oman
The president wants the UNSC to adopt a resolution authorizing “willing countries that wish to help Yemen to provide immediate support for the legitimate authority by all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter the Houthi aggression.”
Hadi has also asked the League of Arab States to immediately interfere in the situation in Yemen, Al Arabiya TV reported, citing a statement by Yemen's foreign minister, Riad Yassin. A "joint Arab slant" is needed to coordinate and decide on an "immediate military intervention," Yassin said.
The Arab League's foreign ministers will meet Thursday to discuss possible military involvement, Reuters reported, referring to the League's deputy chairman.
Meanwhile, the militants in Yemen have called for all neighboring states to "keep the peace" and "side with the people of Yemen," an official representative of the Ansar Allah armed group said, as cited by Tass.
READ MORE: US evacuates ‘special forces’ in Yemen as rebels seize third largest city
Some Yemeni military officers don’t like the idea of foreign intervention.
“We express our total and utter rejection of any external interference in Yemeni affairs under any pretext and in any form and from any side,” Reuters cited statement of a group of officers calling themselves Higher Committee to Preserve the Armed Forces and Security.
“All members of the armed forces and security and all the sons of the proud people of Yemen with all its components will confront with all their strength and heroism any attempt to harm the pure soil of the homeland, its independence or its sovereignty or to threaten its unity and territorial integrity,” the military group announced on a website.
In late February, Yemen's Shiite rebel leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi accused Saudi Arabia of attempting to divide Yemen along sectarian lines.
“Our elder sister, the Saudi kingdom, doesn't respect the Yemenis and wants to impose here in Yemen the sequence of events and divisions that happened in Libya,” al-Houthi said, as cited by the AP.
"There
were plans for an observer mission or a local ceasefire with the
Houthi rebels, but due to the fact that Saudi Arabia borders Yemen
and Yemen is now posing a security threat to Saudi Arabia, the US is
more likely to advocate any sort of intervention in Yemen,"
Middle East researcher Danny Makki told RT.
As
the US is fighting Al-Qaeda militants within Yemen, "now the
problem is that the Al-Qaeda militants that Americans are fighting
are actually fighting the Houthi rebels, who America is un-allied
to," Makki added, saying that such a situation results in a
"geopolitical war of mirrors."
Sunni
Saudi Arabia believes that Shiite Houthi rebels are supported by
Riyadh’s arch-enemy Iran. The kingdom’s richest oil deposits are
in the Eastern Province bordering Yemen and inhabited by Shiites.
Given that the power in Saudi Arabia’s neighbor Iraq is also in the
hands of Shiites, Sunni Riyadh could find itself between rock and a
hard place and in a state of proxy war with Tehran.
The
porous 1,800km border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, used by local
tribes for illegal trade and contraband, has always been a headache
for Riyadh. In 2004, Saudi Arabia even initiated construction of the
so-called ‘Saudi–Yemen barrier’ with control towers and
electronic detection equipment. Although the multi-billion project
was only partially implemented, talks about construction’s renewal
reappeared on many occasions and came up with a bang after Houthi
rebels’ success in seizing power in Yemen.
In August 2014, Houthi rebels swept down from their stronghold in the mountains, demanding economic and political reforms. In September they seized key state installations in the capital, Sanaa.
Houthi militants (Reuters / Mohamed al-Sayaghi)
After Hadi left the capital, Houthis continued advancing to the south of the country, seizing cities one by one. All Western embassies were evacuated from Yemen.
READ MORE: Marines ‘smashed’ weapons before evacuating US embassy in Yemen
When last weekend Shiite rebels seized Yemen’s third largest city Taiz, the US announced the evacuation of remaining special forces involved in a drone campaign against Al-Qaeda.
READ MORE: Dozens dead in Yemen mosques bombings, ISIS ‘claims’ responsibility (GRAHIC IMAGES)
Last Friday a suicide bomber attack on two mosques in Sanaa became one of the worst terror acts in Yemen’s history. At least 126 people were killed and some 250 more were wounded in the bombings. Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide bomb attack, according to their statement cited by Reuters.
From Iran's Press TV
Houthis
enter Yemen's Aden
Houthis
have entered the Yemeni city of Aden from where resigned
President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has just fled.
According
to Yemeni Presidential guards, the former president fled Aden as
Houthis entered the city on Wednesday. This comes as an
aide to Hadi has denied the resigned president fled the southern
city.
Members
of the Houthi Ansarullah movement also detained Hadi's Defense
Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi in Aden and transferred him to the
capital, Sana’a
The
latest developments come as Yemeni forces backed by Ansarullah
revolutionaries seized the al-Anad air base, located about 50
kilometers north of Aden.
A
spokesman for the Houthis said the ongoing conflict is aimed at
fighting against al-Qaeda militants and the country’s former
president.
The
spokesman added that the Houthis would respect the rights of people
in southern Yemen.
Days
earlier, Yemen’s Houthi movement named Major General Hussein
Khairan as the new defense minister for the country.
A
high-ranking diplomat of Iran’s Foreign Ministry has held talks
with authorities in Moscow over the situation in Yemen.
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