Houthi Commentators Discuss Strikes against KSA, UAE: We Will Pulverize Their Strategic Interests, Set the Region on Fire; We Are Developing Fighter Jets

This clip is a compilation of Yemeni commentators discussing drone and missile strikes against Saudi Arabia and the UAE in a May 14, 2019 broadcast on Al-Alam TV (Iran). Yemeni military expert Brig.-Gen. Abd Muhammad Al-Thawr, who is loyal to the Houthis, said that cities, economic targets, and power plants in the UAE are within range of Houthi weapons. He explained that Houthi missiles have a range of over 1,500 km and that the drones have a range of up to 1,400 km, and he referred to the UAE as a “paper tiger.” Military expert Brig.-Gen. Abdallah Al-Jafari said that the Houthi leader had announced that Riyadh and Israel are also within range of Houthi weapons, and that Houthi naval forces could be used to target Bab-el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal. He said that the Houthis will “set [the region] on fire and take it over.” Sultan Al-Sami’i, a member of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, said that the Yemeni army has “shattered” the “aura of glory” of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and that the Houthis have a bank of military and economic targets that they will strike if the “aggression” against them does not cease. He said that these targets include desalination plants and power plants. Al-Sami’i accused KSA and the UAE of “no longer reading the Quran” and said that the Houthis have modern weapons that have not yet been revealed. He added that the Houthis are manufacturing modern fighter jets for future use.

Following are excerpts:

Brig.-Gen. Abd Muhammad Al-Thawr: The UAE and all its provinces are our enemy's hinterland, and we have warned them in the past. [Houthi leader] Abdul-Malik Badreddine Al-Houthi warned the UAE in a speech against continuing their crimes in Yemen. He said that their land is not immune and that they are unable to protect themselves. Our strikes reached Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and our missiles and drones can reach the cities in the UAE, so they are all targets. Our message to Saudi Arabia and the UAE is that we can strike even the farthest points in their lands. Our missiles traversed more than 1,500 kilometers, and our drones traversed between 1,300 and 1,400 kilometers. Thus, the vital economic targets, as well as the sources of energy and power of the UAE and the KSA, are within the range of our weapons.

[…]

We are capable of striking the lands of the UAE in the coming days and hours, along with their economic resources, their sources of energy and other vital targets. We have enough vital targets that we can strike and thus neutralize the economy of the UAE. We understand what it means to strike the UAE. The UAE is weak, and its economy is a paper tiger.

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Brig.-Gen. Abdallah Al-Jafari: Our message is very clear, as outlined by the leader of the revolution [Abdul Malik Al-Houthi], when he spoke on the 4^th anniversary of the aggression (i.e. Saudi intervention), as well as in his latest TV interview, which was broadcasted for the first time, where he said that we have ballistic missiles that can reach Riyadh and beyond, hinting at the Zionist entity, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. He also said that we have missiles that… He spoke about the military achievement of our naval forces having missiles that can reach the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, as well as the Suez Canal. In other words, if they want to wreak havoc in this region – we are ready. This is a very important and sensitive region, and we will set it on fire and take it over. We have the means to strike any military force that comes to this region.

[…]

Sultan Al-Sami'i: The world has now discovered that the KSA, the UAE, and those who stand with them are paper tigers controlled the United States. The defense systems and the military apparatus of the KSA and the UAE have failed miserably in this war. They were humiliated in front of their people. Their aura of glory is gone forever. Yes, the Yemeni army and its popular committees were able to shatter their aura of glory and humiliate them in front of the world. Today, seven drones set out from the Republic of Yemen, traversed hundreds of kilometers, reached their targets, and struck them with precision. As a result of this great operation, the export of 3 million barrels of oil from the Eastern Province [of KSA] was stopped – [oil that is usually transported] through the pipes in the central region towards the west to the city of Yanbu. This operation fulfills the promise made by the leader Abdul Malik Badreddine Al-Houthi, who warned two weeks ago that [the Houthis] would be forced to employ strategic weapons that the enemy has not seen yet. This was only a first stage. There will be a second stage in which we will surprise them if they do not stop their aggression against our women, our children, and our installations. We will target their military and economic installations. This was mentioned in the communique by the army and the popular committees.

Host: Please, go ahead.

Sultan Al-Sami'i: We will target economic installations, and this is within our right to self-defense. We have a bank of important targets such as these. In the following stage, we will target desalination plants and power plants all over the Arabian Peninsula, and then we will have settled the score. Today, we are stronger than we were four years ago. We are a people about whom Allah said [in the Quran]: "And they said: 'We have great strength and great military might'." But these Bedouins no longer read the Quran. They thought that they would defeat us and occupy Yemen in two weeks. Now we are in the fifth year [of the war], and we are stronger than before. We have some weapons that we have not revealed yet. I will not be revealing a secret if I tell you that we are manufacturing modern fighter jets for future use. We have weapons that are more modern than those that we have used so far, and if the aggression does not stop, we will use them, and we will pulverize all their strategic interests.