Houthis say US prolonging Yemen war to reap profits from weapons deals

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi made the remarks in a Thursday televised address as people attended a ceremony in the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a to pay homage to late chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Sammad.

“The US is trying to take advantage of the prolonged Yemen crisis. Washington has already made enormous profits from the war through arms deals [with the Riyadh regime and its allies]. US statesmen intend to install a vassal state in Yemen so as to bring the nation under their control. They have no good intentions at all,” Houthi said.

He added that the US continues to torpedo any initiative by the Sultanate of Oman and others to restore nationwide peace and stability to Yemen.

“The United States, Britain and the United Arab Emirates need to take on commitments in any future agreement. Yemen’s natural reserves have been occupied by the Saudi-led coalition of aggression, and the alliance is accountable for depriving Yemenis of sale proceeds,” Houthi continued.

“We cannot accept the presence of occupying forces on the Yemeni soil, as their deployment translates into interference in our domestic affairs. We will spare no effort to drive occupying American and British forces out of our country,” the Ansarullah chief pointed out.

Houthi added that Washington is directing the devastating military campaign against Yemen, stressing that the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi regimes are simply executing its orders.

“It was the US which provoked Saudi officials to assassinate Sammad [in a drone airstrike in late April 2018]. Americans have also commanded the Saudi-led bombing raids against various Yemeni regions ever since the aggression started back in March 2015,” he said.

“The Saudi-coalition mistakenly thought it would be able to break the willpower of the Yemeni nation through Sammad’s targeted killing. The result was strikingly different from what it had expected, and Sammad’s assassination made Yemenis more determined and courageous in their struggle against aggressors,” the Ansarullah chief stated.

Houthi also denounced the extent of the Saudi-led coalition’s brutality, stating, “The alliance of aggression has perpetrated absolutely horrendous and horrifying crimes and acts of savagery in Yemen under the auspices of the US, the Israeli regime and Britain. Nothing can justify their crimes.”

He underscored that Yemen is demanding the release of its assets frozen abroad, and that Yemeni Armed Forces have beefed up their military capabilities in the face of the Saudi-led aggression.

“Humanitarian issues must be given top priority over any other matters during negotiations over ending the Yemen war. The US should come to terms with the fact that it is an occupier and complicit in the Saudi-led onslaught against Yemen. It cannot present itself as a peace broker,” Houthi underlined.

Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states, launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015.

The objective was to crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen, and reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

The Saudi-led coalition has failed to achieve any of its objectives, leaving hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and spawning the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.