The Houthis Are the Iranians of Yemen

Al-Arab, London, January 22

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi doesn’t need to use the language of Hassan Nasrallah to express his loyalty to Iran and his involvement in implementing the instructions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Iran itself doesn’t hide the fact that it’s behind al-Houthi in the war he and his rebels are waging in the Arab Gulf. Al-Houthi is an Iranian soldier, as is Nasrallah. Both are hoping that Iran will bring them to power in their respective countries, despite the fact that their respective publics vehemently oppose their rule. Iran is extremely skilled at creating crises, but terribly inept at solving them. Wreaking havoc and causing bloodshed is within its wheelhouse; ending wars and taking responsibility for its actions are not part of its competency. In a moment of despair, the mullahs may very well leave Nasrallah and his army alone in the face of the Lebanese people. This is the same situation in which al-Houthi and his supporters, who claim to be Ansar Allah, can soon find themselves. I’m not exaggerating when I say that al-Houthi and Nasrallah are more Iranian than the Iranian regime itself. Followers often fall into that immoral trap. Iran is fighting through the Houthis, and it considers them its impenetrable dam and its front against imperialism, but in its Arab form. But Iran doesn’t dare fire a single shot at Western imperialism, nor at its creation, Israel. Al-Houthi understands, as well as Nasrallah, that a war against the Arabs can go by without international punishment. For example, Nasrallah has forgotten his immortal enemy, Israel, and has devoted all of his group’s energy to fighting Saudi Arabia. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is a faded version of Hassan Nasrallah. For both men, loyalty to Iran prevailed over loyalty to their own nations. Many Yemenis who support al-Houthi will regret their decision when they discover that he has sold Yemen in exchange for his adherence to Iranian ideology. The Houthis aren’t an Iranian creation, but they decided to be worse than that when they put themselves at the service of the Iranian project, which is based on permanent ruin. Yemen has been sabotaged by the Houthis beyond repair. The same is true of Lebanon at the hands of Hizbullah. The Lebanese people have finally come to the understanding that any attempt to revive Lebanon must involve dismantling Hizbullah. It’s either Lebanon or Hizbullah. Unfortunately, no United Nations envoy can understand this simple reality. The “Iranians of Yemen” are a new nationalism that will play a role in destroying its future. – Farouk Yousef (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)