Yemen says protecting Bab el-Mandeb Strait shared regional, international responsibility

Protecting the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a shared regional and international responsibility and should not be borne by Yemen alone, Presidential Leadership Council Vice President Abdullah al-Alimi said Thursday.

Al-Alimi told the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York that Houthi attacks on maritime navigation have turned the security of one of the world’s most important shipping routes into a tool of pressure and bargaining.

“The Houthi use of maritime security as a tool of blackmail is not only a threat to Yemen, but is holding the global economy hostage,” he said.

Al-Alimi said years of conflict had demonstrated that supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized government and strengthening its economic, security and military capabilities amounted to an investment in international security and stability.

“Protecting this strategic passage is a shared regional and international responsibility that Yemen cannot bear alone,” he said.

Al-Alimi said a secure Red Sea depended on a stable Yemen, while stability in Yemen required restoring effective state authority.

“There can be no sustainable peace as long as an armed militia remains above the state and outside the law,” he said, adding that restoring the Yemeni state will contribute directly to regional stability and the protection of one of the world’s most important maritime corridors.

He said the government had dealt “responsibly and positively” with regional and international initiatives and made major concessions in an effort to reach peace and alleviate the suffering of Yemenis.

Al-Alimi accused the Houthis of responding to those efforts with intransigence and using periods of a humanitarian truce to strengthen their military arsenal at the expense of Yemenis.

He also accused the group of rejecting peace initiatives and escalating attacks in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb in service of “an Iranian agenda” extending beyond Yemen’s national interests.

Al-Alimi said the threat posed by the Houthis is also being strengthened by “the absence of an effective and decisive international position.”

He urged the international community to move toward a “strategic partnership” with Yemen to strengthen security and stability in the region, saying the government is capable of ending the threat posed by the Houthis.