Sayyed al-Houthi: Yemen is now at important, decisive stage

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement says his country is now at an “important and decisive stage” in the fight against Saudi-led military aggression as the “unjust onslaught is targeting the national dignity, identity and sovereignty” of the conflict-ridden Arab country.

Addressing his supporters via a televised speech broadcast live from the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a on Tuesday evening, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said the Yemeni people reserve the right of self-defense in the face of the Saudi-led aggression besides the right to freedom and independence.

He described the young Yemeni people as the country’s treasure, emphasizing that enemies are seeking to undermine their faith, awareness, honor and morale.

He warned the Yemeni youths that the United States, its regional allies and corrupt officials aim to strike their values in order ​​to assert control over them.

Houthi further noted that hypocrisy dissipates the Muslim nations’ weight and wealth, and cements US hegemony and arrogance at the global level.

He said the Saudi war on Yemen, backed by the United States, shows Washington’s support for Takfiri terrorists.

The Ansarullah leader also censured attempts by a number of Persian Gulf littoral states, notably Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to forge diplomatic relations with Israel, stressing that the Palestinian cause is a major issue to the Yemeni people.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the country’s popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.