On July 13, 2024 the website of Qatar's Al-Jazeera network published an interview with Aziz Rashed, who was presented as a brigadier-general in the Moral Guidance Administration of the Ansar Allah Defense Ministry. In the interview Rashed threatens that, a year from now, the Houthi Ansar Allah militia will have missiles " that can reach Europe or the Atlantic Ocean, so that America's nuclear targets" will be within their range. According to Rashed, the militia's hypersonic missiles, which can currently reach Bab Al-Mandeb, the Red Sea, the Arabia Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, along with the military force of Iran and the militias loyal to it in Iraq and Lebanon, deter the U.S. and deprive it of "strategic options." He warns that, if the U.S. and its allies in the region decide to expand the war against the Houthis in Yemen, the resistance axis will support the Houthis with all its resources and abilities.
Aziz Rashed (Image: Aljazeera.net)
The following are the main points of the interview:[1]
Aziz Rashed begins by addressing the Houthis' cooperation with the Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq and their joint attacks on Israel.[2] These Attacks, he says, "are coordinated in a joint operations room, and their timing and targets are chosen so as to enable the drones and missiles to hit the depth of the Israeli targets." The website notes that Rashed "did not rule out that [the Houthis] will be present on all the fronts," and quotes him as saying that, "if the region sees extensive military activity, the resistance axis will be part of it. The campaign will be fateful and will impact everyone. The Palestinian cause is a central one for the resistance axis." He also notes that "the strategic missiles allow Yemen [i.e., the Houthis] to dictate the [geographical] scope of the military activity, even if we are not present in South Lebanon or in Iraq."
Rashed claims that the Houthis asked Egypt to allow them into Rafah so they could send Yemeni forces into Gaza to help the Palestinians there. He clarifies that, "if the U.S. pressures the countries that are subordinate to it in the region to act against us jointly in Yemen, the resistance axis will obviously support us with all its resources and abilities."
Assessing that the U.S. "will not intervene directly in any war in this region, because Iran, Iraq and Lebanon are a terrifying force," Rashed warns that such a war will have a far greater impact on the West than on the East. He states that, if war breaks out, "vital facilities of the regional countries, and of any participating country, will be hit, [and] Bab Al-Mandeb will be under our complete control."
Thanks to their supersonic missiles, says Rashed, the Houthis have managed to dictate the boundaries of the battlefield, which stretches from the Red Sea through Bab Al-Mandeb, the Gulf of Aden the Arabian Sea to the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean – thus "eliminating America's strategic options and rendering it unable [to act]."
Rashed also threatens that, "in exactly one year, Yemen will have missiles that can reach Europe or the Atlantic Ocean, so America's nuclear targets will be within the range of the Yemeni missiles."
[1] Aljazeera.net, July 13, 2024.
[2] Since June 2024, the Houthis and the Iraqi militias that are part of the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" umbrella organization have been claiming joint drone and missile attacks targeting various sites in Israel. See e.g., MEMRI JTTM reports: Statement By Iran-Backed 'Islamic Resistance In Iraq' Confirms June 6 Attacks Against Israeli Port Coordinated, Executed Jointly With Yemen's Houthi Ansar Allah Movement, June 6, 2024; Houthi Ansar Allah Movement, Islamic Resistance In Iraq Again Claim Joint Attacks On Israeli Port Cities; Houthis Claim Causing Leak Threatening Commercial Ship In Red Sea, June 13, 2024.
