In an exclusive interview with Rasa, Sadiq Abdul-Rahman Ahmad al-Sharafi, one of the senior leaders of Yemen’s Ansarullah [Houthis], has described the stances and strategic objectives of this Islamic resistance group.
al-Sharafi explained that before the recent Saudi aggression on Yemen, all conditions were present for a calm political atmosphere – a new constitution was about to be ratified and various political groups were prepared to meet for several rounds of negotiations and dialogue to reach a comprehensive agreement. But due to its enmity, the House of Saud wasn’t willing to accept this and launched an invasion which has reached its 39th day and killed scores of innocent people and injured and displaced tens of thousands of others in a vain effort to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
He explained that the Saudis had been openly and directly supporting the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda since the 1990s and since then they have focused on the development of extremist forces in the impoverished Arab country in order to weaken Yemen’s sovereignty and independence.
The senior Ansarullah leader added that the Saudis encouraged some Yemeni youths to join terrorist and extremist groups and equipped them with weapons. Also, about 3,000 terrorists from other countries such as Turkey, Syria and Egypt entered Yemen via its eastern Hadhramawt region. “In general, we can say that most al-Qaeda forces in Yemen were imported from outside the country and only a few of the Yemeni youth have been victims of Qaeda’s extremist propaganda to entice them to become members of the terrorist group,” al-Sharafi explained.
He added that Yemen is not the only country that has fallen victim to the extremist ideology exported from Saudi Arabia, saying that throughout the world, Takfirism and extremist ideas have led to untold amounts of bloodshed.
According to al-Sharafi, a large part of the concerns of the House of Saud and their activities in areas such as Aden and Abyan are due to historical reasons and proof from religious documents that the rise of the army of the awaited Islamic saviour, Imam al-Mahdi, are from these areas.
In regard to the Saudi’s failures and lack of any achievements in Yemen since their operation began on March 25th, al-Sharafi stated that the Saudi air attacks only cause terror among the people and useless slaughter as the Israel-allied regime has not achieved any of its objectives, adding that the situation in Yemen is similar to that which we witnessed in the Gaza Strip last summer, where after brutally killing innocent people in Gaza, Israel withdrew after failing to achieve any of their goals.
Al-Sharafi explained that despite Saudi Arabia’s use of advanced weapons to kill the people of Yemen, there have been massive public protests condemning their crimes and added that these protests are a sign of the failure of the Saudi regime’s military misadventure.
Another sign of the House of Saud’s "failure" in Yemen is the fact that none of the countries in the region has cooperated with them in “Operation Decisive Storm.” Those countries who initially agreed to aid them, were forced to flee from their promises to aid the Saudis in their onslaught to avoid a scandal at home and due to their attempts to deceive public opinion. “After rejecting the solutions proposed by some countries, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia sees itself in a deep quagmire and cannot get itself out of it,” al-Sharafi explained.
In regard to the impact of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei message of support to the Yemeni Islamic resistance, al-Sharafi stated that “Imam Khamenei is considered as spiritual father of all Muslims and the revolutionary people of Yemen... His words created insight that has helped all Yemenis to easily identify their true enemies and avoid the enemies’ deceptive claims wrapped in friendly attire.”
The Yemeni revolutionary stated that Ansarullah views Iran’s involvement in Yemen with dignity and pride. Iran has always provided Yemen with constructive consultation. This positive support is in contrast to the Saudi’s destructive interference which led to an invasion which has caused hundreds of deaths.
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