Vol. 14, No. 32 November 7, 2014
Yemen Changes Hands. Will an Iranian Stronghold Emerge
Near the Entrance to the Red Sea?
Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah
- This past month, Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, was transformed. In a revolutionary development, Zaydi Shiites from the Houthi clan took control of Sana'a.
- While the Zaydi Shiism practiced in Yemen differs from the Shiism practiced in Iran, in recent years Iran has sought to bring the Zaydis under its wings. Last year an Iranian weapons boat bound for Yemen was interdicted.
- Over the past three years the Houthis have gathered momentum both as a fighting force and as a political movement. There have been repeated reports that the Houthis have received training from Iran's Revolutionary Guards and from Hizbullah, which have sought to recruit them to fight for them in the Syrian Civil War.
- Thus the takeover in Yemen is important to the international community; its significance goes far beyond the future of Yemen. Moreover, a Houthi-controlled Yemen could evolve into a full-scale Iranian stronghold in the future and threaten freedom of movement through the Bab al Mandab Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea and a vital sea route between Europe and the Far East.
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Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, a special analyst for the Middle East at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, was formerly Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence.
