“Britain and the United States pursue a systematic policy of piracy against Yemeni vessels carrying fuel and enforcing a blockade on the country that mainly targets oil products to achieve their political and military goals,” Ammar al-Azra’i said.
He noted that acts of piracy against Yemeni vessels intensified in 2021, with Yemenis obtaining only 5% of the fuel they needed.
Al-Azra’i stressed that supplying fuel through ports occupied by the Saudi-led coalition would cost about 50 percent more than importing fuel through al-Hudaydah port which is run by the national salvation government.
In 2021, the Yemeni people paid about $6 million to receive fuel through land crossings, which went into the pockets of mercenaries, he added.
While the whole world is crying foul over surging crude prices; we have been shouting for two years that no tanker will enter Yemen unless it pays a 60 to 80 percent fine, he added.
Saudi Arabia launched its onslaught against Yemen in March 2015. Since then, it has imposed an all-out blockade of Yemen and refuses to ease its draconian restrictions despite untold human suffering. The devastating military campaign has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and claimed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni lives.
