By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2024-10-29

ADEN -- The Houthis have turned al-Hodeidah's ports, which should be a lifeline for the Yemeni people, into a center for weapons assembly and a launchpad for attacks on maritime navigation, officials and experts said.

The Iran-backed group has been using the province’s ports and coastline for military purposes that threaten regional and international peace and security, al-Hodeidah deputy governor Waleed al-Qadimi said.

The ports of al-Hodeidah were a lifeline for Yemenis before the Houthis turned them into military bases, he said in a speech delivered at the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The Houthis "exploited al-Hodeidah province and its ports, coast and islands," violating the 2018 Stockholm Agreement, political analyst Mahmoud al-Taher told Al-Fassel.

The Houthis manipulated the agreement, which called for a ceasefire in al-Hodeidah, to resume military activities, analysts said. After fighting on other fronts stopped, they moved most of their fighters to al-Hodeidah, and then took military control of the ports of al-Hodeidah and the Red Sea coast.

With the Iranian regime’s support, they "established military bases on the Yemeni islands and on the coastal strip, and Iran made them launch pads for targeting the security of international navigation," al-Taher said.

Smuggled arms shipments

Al-Hodeidah and al-Salif ports are "a main gateway to the outside world for the areas under the control of the Houthis with regard to the inflow of imports of all kinds," political analyst Fares al-Humairi told Al-Fassel.

"But the Houthis use these seaports for purposes that have nothing to do with purely commercial activities," he said.

All assessments indicate "the Houthis use the ports of al-Hodeidah and al-Salif for military purposes, and the port of al-Luhayyah is one of the most important military ports for the Houthis on the Red Sea," he said.

Smuggled arms shipments arrive at al-Luhayyah, he said, and the Houthis use the port to send explosives-laden drone boats to carry out attacks in international shipping lanes.

"The militarization of the western Yemeni coast by the Houthis makes the ports vulnerable to targeting, in addition to the fact that the militarization of the coasts affects the activity and movements of fishermen," he said.

"The world is suffering from the Iranian militias' takeover of al-Hodeidah," said Fahmi al-Zubairi, director general of the human rights office in Sanaa.

"As a result, maritime navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb has been targeted and the security of global trade and economy has been threatened."

"The terrorist acts of the Houthis and Iran against maritime navigation have become a threat to all traffic in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb, harming global trade," he said.