‘Ending Saudi-led aggression, blockade key to lasting peace in Yemen’

A member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council says a cessation of the Saudi-led military aggression and its crippling naval and air blockade against the Arab country is the absolute prerequisite for the establishment of peace there.

“Establishment of real peace in Yemen depends on lifting the [Saudi-led] siege, stopping aggression and fighting on all fronts,” Lebanon-based and Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network quoted Mohammed Ali al-Houthi as saying at a ceremony in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, on Monday evening.

He called on US officials to “abandon racism and arrogance, and embrace peace instead.”

Houthi further noted that the Yemeni nation has placed high hopes on fighters from Popular Committees, and strongly relies on them in the face of the Saudi-led military campaign.

Addressing Saudi and Emirati officials, he added, “You will not manage to break down our steadfastness, and we will not capitulate at all. We will eventually attain independence and establish sovereignty over the entire Yemeni lands.”

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The spokesman for Yemen’s army says a new missile has hit a military target at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport with high precision.

“I caution (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed) bin Salman that your continued war on our country will spell the end of your monarchy and rule. The Yemeni nation, ahead of the seventh year of the [Saudi-led] aggression, will continue its stiff resistance and struggle against the coalition of aggression and its mercenaries until final victory,” Houthi said.

He also praised the victories of Yemeni military and security forces, describing the country’s missile force and combat drone capabilities as the fruit of the Yemeni nation’s steadfastness.

Ansarullah: Yemeni operations against Saudi regime purely defensive

Earlier in the day, the spokesman for Yemen’s Ansarullah movement underlined the defensive nature of attacks by Yemeni armed forces, saying those who stand in solidarity with the Saudi-led coalition are more likely to get the alliance further bogged down in the Yemen quagmire.

“Those who sympathize with the coalition of aggression are more likely to further drown the latter in the Yemen quagmire and push them to go down the wrong path. They simply pay them lip service. We tell them: You will never be a peacemaker by provoking aggressors to continue their aggression and siege of Yemen,” Mohammed Abdul-Salam tweeted.

The remarks came as the United States expressed alarm at Yemeni retaliatory actions after attacks on the heart of the Saudi oil industry.

“We continue to be alarmed by the frequency of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Escalating attacks like these are not the actions of a group that is serious about peace,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

State Department spokesman Ned Price also condemned an attack by Yemeni armed forces on Saudi oil facilities, saying the Ansarullah movement needed to show seriousness about Yemen’s peace process.

Saudi Arabia confirms Yemeni drone, missile attacks on oil facilities

Saudi Arabia has confirmed drone, missile attacks by the Yemeni army on its oil facilities.

“We condemn the egregious Houthi drone and missile attack against Saudi Aramco facilities,” Price told reporters.

“The frequency of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia is not the actions of a group that is serious about peace,” he said.

“The Houthis, in our view and in the view of our allies and partners, have to demonstrate their willingness to engage in a political process. They need to, quite simply, stop attacking and start negotiating,” the US official said.

Backed by the US and a number of other Western states, Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement.

The Yemeni armed forces and allied popular groups have, however, gone from strength to strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.

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