بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Current Events in Yemen: Inflammatory Statements and Military Actions to Achieve Colonial Objectives
(Translated)
Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 610 - 29/07/2026
By: Engineer Shafiq Khamis – Wilayah Yemen
On July 20, local and international media outlets circulated a televised address by Rashad Al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s eight-member Presidential Council. In it, he called upon all sectors of the population to support military forces in ending the Houthi control over the capital, Sana’a, and ousting them after a 12-year occupation. The Houthis responded by escalating tensions in an effort to break the blockade imposed on the airports and seaports they have controlled since 2014.
This marks the second inflammatory statement issued by Rashad Al-Alimi in a month and a half. It follows the vision he presented to the UN Envoy on June 11, 2026, in which he stated that a genuine solution does not lie in power-sharing with the Houthis. That earlier statement came a week after the coordination committee meetings between Aden and Riyadh—held in Amman on June 7, 2026—and followed the UN Envoy Grundberg’s call to sponsor a coordination committee meeting involving representatives from Sana'a, Aden, and Riyadh.
Al-Alimi’s latest statement also coincided with Riyadh’s bombing of the Sana'a airport runway. This action was taken to prevent a Mahan Air flight arriving from Tehran on July 13, 2026, from landing—a flight that had previously landed there on July 3, 2026, to transport the Houthi delegation participating in the funeral of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. A series of retaliatory actions ensued between the two sides, beginning with the Houthis shelling Abha Airport—formerly the capital of the Ottoman administration of Asir, which was under Yemeni administration during the era of the Ottoman State the last state for all Muslims. On July 20, the Houthis issued a statement banning Saudi ships from passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a move they followed up three days later by attacking two Saudi oil tankers. Riyadh responded on July 25 by striking locations in Al-Hudaydah Governorate and Kamaran Island in the Red Sea; the Houthis retaliated that same day by targeting Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu. Meanwhile, clashes erupted on the Bayhan and Harib fronts, located on the borders of Shabwa Governorate with the governorates of Ma’rib and Al-Bayda.
The attacks carried out by Tehran and Sana'a in the Straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab serve Washington's objective of accelerating the construction of a Saudi oil pipeline to the Arabian Sea via Yemen, thereby facilitating oil transport eastward across the Pacific Ocean. The International Crisis Group has factored in Tehran's involvement in the Houthi restrictions on navigation in Bab al-Mandab, even as Europe reports the continued success of its EUNAVFOR ASPIDES Operation in the Red Sea—a defensive naval mission launched by the European Union on February 19, 2024, to protect its vessels.
All the aforementioned political and military actions by the conflicting parties in Yemen are setting the stage for the United Nations to convene a new round of negotiations. The aim is to resume the roadmap that had been halted by the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023—an event compounded by the concurrent aggression of the United States and its protégé, the Jewish entity, against Iran. The situation has shifted from destabilizing peace and stability in Yemen to restoring them—even at the cost of bloodshed among the people.
This implies that Aden is raising the bar for its demands before the United Nations, the body responsible for the power-sharing arrangement between Aden and Sana'a. This division led to the Aden government resuming oil exports—following a hiatus that began in October 2022—which significantly impacted its position. Meanwhile, Sana’a has also raised its demands, anticipating that resumed oil exports would fund public sector salaries nationwide under the agreed roadmap. Sana’a has proceeded to sign contracts with foreign oil companies for exploration—much like in the past, albeit with superficial changes made by the Ministry of Oil’s committee in Sana’a regarding international tender regulations and the choice of contracting firms. The era of European companies—which once operated with free rein in the country—has ended; the time has come for companies that were previously unwelcome, even when operating under the guise of South Korean or Indonesian entities. It is certain, however, that these companies are affiliated with the United States.
On another front, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi—the two prominent regional powers serving conflicting colonial interests in Yemen, caught between the legacy of old British military colonialism and the new American economic colonialism—took action. This was marked by a meeting on July 21 near Sindalah Island in the Red Sea between Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the servant of Washington, and Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the servant of London. This move was reinforced by a statement from the Abu Dhabi Foreign Ministry condemning the Houthi declaration to block the passage of Saudi ships through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. While this meeting takes place against the backdrop of the war waged by America and the Jewish entity against Iran, the rapprochement between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi serves to mask their betrayal of Allah, His Messenger (saw), and the people of Yemen.
Rashad Al-Alimi was installed by the international order that placed Yemen under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter; it sanctioned the eight-member council for him, just as it did with the Houthis through the agreement brokered by Jamal Benomar. The people of Yemen bear witness that the United Nations is the very entity that destabilized peace in their country to serve an international colonialist agenda. Its machinations threaten to tear the country apart—fragmenting it into pieces even smaller than the Sykes-Picot divisions, rendering them powerless—while new servants pledge to execute these schemes, protect these interests, and ensure the continued plunder of oil. Ultimately, the final word regarding the shaping of their worldly lives and their destiny in the Hereafter rests with the people of Iman and their Creator, Allah (swt).
O People of Iman: Keep the forces of international conflict away from yourselves and your country, reclaim the glory of your predecessors, and seek aid through the might and power of Allah—which require your obedience to His commands.
Allah (swt) said,
[وَلَنْ يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلاً] “Allah forbids the disbelievers a way of authority over the believers.” [TMQ Surah An-Nisaa’: 141]. Commit yourselves to establishing the Second Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly-Guided Caliphate) upon the method of the Prophethood; it is the fundamental solution to the problems of Yemen and the entire world. As the Trustworthy One, Muhammad (saw)—sent by Allah as a mercy to the worlds and the Seal of the Prophets (as) and Messengers (as)—declared, «ثُمَّ تَكُونُ خِلَافَةً عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ» “Then there will be a Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the method of Prophethood.”