AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Capitals of middle east countries9/14/2023 ![]() ![]() In September, Shia rebels of Ansar Allah (Houthi’s military wing) were able to exploit the weakness of Yemen’s central government, which is also engaged in a struggle with the Sunni Al Qaeda and with tribal and separatist elements in the southern part of the country. That pertains particularly to Iran and Saudi Arabia, with Al Qaeda as another disruptive element. Yemen’s geostrategic location at the entrance to the Red Sea and across from the Horn of Africa, along with the inherent weakness of the central regime, has made it an attractive target for subversion by external power centers, both political and nonpolitical. At the same time, since the Islamic Revolution in Iran and all the more so in recent years with growing Iranian subversive activity in Yemen, the Zaidi Shia have been increasingly exposed to the ideological influence and political agenda of the regime in Iran, leading to a change in the usually moderate attitudes of the Zaidi Shia. ![]() The Zaidi Shia are considered one of the moderate Shia schools, closer from a legal standpoint to the Shafi’i school of the Sunna. The Houthis constitute about 30 percent of Yemen’s population, which totals over 25 million people. 1 This conflict, which has already gone on for over 10 years, stems from feelings of political, economic, and social discrimination among the Zaidi Shia residents of Yemen’s north. In recent years the Yemeni government conducted a series of military operations against rebels of the al-Houthi clan of the Zaidi sect of Shia Islam. Iran’s copying machine Source: Suhail Yemen News Iran will keep trying to augment its advantage over Saudi Arabia and the Sunni Arab world with its nuclear program, or, to put it simply, a “Shia bomb,” which would provide an umbrella and immunity for promoting the further spread of the Shia revolution and the survival of the regime.Iran’s officials no longer fear voicing Iran’s real intentions and have become open, blunt, and defiant in doing so. There is nothing new in Iran’s subversive activity aimed at promoting Shia Islam in various Middle Eastern countries.Iran views Yemen as a convenient staging ground for subversive activity against Saudi Arabia, its main religious-political rival in the Middle East.A member of the Iranian parliament who is close to Khamenei declared, “Three Arab capitals (Beirut, Damascus, and Baghdad) have already fallen into Iran’s hands and belong to the Iranian Islamic Revolution.” He suggested Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, is the fourth.It commands the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and is now trying to seize the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Iran has long been trying to take over the sea lanes surrounding the Arab world. ![]() In September, Shia rebels took over the capital city of Sana’a and the Al-Hudaydah port on the Red Sea.Yemen’s geostrategic location at the entrance to the Red Sea and across from the Horn of Africa along with the inherent weakness of the central regime has made it an attractive target for subversion by external power centers.Founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |