Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

The Iranian Revolutionary Bazaar | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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The ongoing war in Yemen between its Army and a group of extremist Shiite Zaydis, known as the Huthists, has taken a dangerous turn, with the situation escalating and the number of victims rising at an alarming rate. As the conflict spreads reaching new areas, this “war” is the Huthists’ sixth attempt to separate from the current rule in Yemen and establish an Islamic emirate based on the Shiite Zaydi faith.

The clashes mainly center in the areas that are under the Huthists’ control, namely in Al-Azqul, Al-Malahiz, Harf Sufyan, Al-Maqash, Wadi Shahwan, Al-Naqah, Damaj, Jabal al-Hafur, and other areas.

The Huthists belong to the founder, Badr al-Din al-Huthi. Some reports say he belonged to the Zaydi faith and converted to the 12-imam Jafarite faith and that he studied in the city of Qom in Iran and demanded his right to the imamate.

Abdul-Malik, son of Badr al-Din, is now leading the war, and he uses a different policy in spreading the Zaydi faith, which has been known for being tolerant and supportive of coexistence. The Zaydi faith in Yemen has always been famous for its ability to absorb diverse groups without hostility.

Currently, there are unequivocal evidences that absolutely clearly show Iran’s flagrant and direct involvement in triggering the war in Yemen by explicitly supporting the Huthists with ammunition, weapons, money, and military combat expertise.

This stepped up fighting in Yemen is part of a dexterous plan, prepared by the Qods Force unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, within the “Yaman khosh hal” scheme. “Yamankhosh hal” is a Persian phrase meaning happy Yemen.

This plan was prepared more than a year ago, with direct blessing from Mohammad Jafari, the most important commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. An initial amount of money exceeding $4 million was earmarked for the plan.

Among the most important components of the plan is to train the Huthists’ forces on guerrilla warfare, fighting inside cities and in mountainous areas, planting explosive charges, and mobilizing the public. This is in addition to buying tribes’ loyalty, opening up to and linking with the ready separatist Southern Mobility Movement in southern Yemen in order to increase the pressure on the central government from all direction while engaging in direct coordination with members of the Al-Qaeda Organization, which has clearly become an obvious tool of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

There are astonishing new facts that are being revealed, most importantly the fact that the Iranian involvement in Yemen began in 2004 under the tempting cover of a humanitarian charity work that began with the large project of building the Iranian Red Crescent Hospital in Sa’dah. The revenues of this hospital went directly to the Huthists.

The ultimate goal of the “Yaman khosh hal” plan is to set up two states. In one state, the imamate rule would return with a pro-Iranian religious regime, led by Al-Huthi. The other state would be under a separate southern rule, headed by a group of political factions that would be directly funded and run by Iran. And, of course, the two states would be a prelude to Iran’s entry into the heart of the Horn of Africa.

The aim behind Iran’s clandestine activity in Somalia and Kenya, an activity that is being gradually revealed, is to forcefully tighten the control of the navigation route in the Red Sea.

The world was distracted by the Iranian nuclear issue, which turned out to be a fanfare, and was preoccupied with domestic developments in Iran while the Iranian bazaar continues to expand and open destructive branches.