A top spokesman for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist movement in Yemen threatened attacks on international oil tankers this weekend after the legitimate government of the country revealed a Houthi attack on the al-Dhabba oil terminal.
Yemen has endured a civil war between its legitimate government, backed by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf states, and the Shiite Houthi terrorist movement, backed by Iran, since 2015, when the Houthis overthrew then-President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and took over the capital city, Sana’a. Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia and has since stepped down; the Yemeni government currently operates out of the southern port city of Aden.
The Houthis – a jihadist organization whose official slogan is “Allahu akbar, death to the United States, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory for Islam” – lost their official designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in America during the first month of leftist President Joe Biden’s term in office. Biden choosing to no longer list the group as terrorists removed major barriers to their funding, outraging Gulf neighbors that dealt with them as a threat on a regular basis.
The months following the Houthis’ delisting saw an escalation of bombings and other attacks not just against the Yemeni government, but against oil facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials warned in March that the country could not guarantee its expected oil production and refining if the Houthis continued to sabotage its oil industry with impunity.
Biden has refused to restore the Houthi organization, officially known as Ansar Allah, to the official list of foreign terrorist groups.
On Friday, the Yemeni government denounced the Houthis for an attack on the al-Dhabba oil terminal, on the southern Yemeni coast. According to the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, the government claimed it had blocked Houthi drones from bombing the oil terminal and that the attack appeared to be timed with the arrival of a tanker.
“The Houthis are clearly insistent on targeting civilian and trade installations in violation of international law,” the government statement read, accusing the Houthis of “blatant threats to regional and international energy supplies.”
“All options are open in dealing with this Houthi terrorist attack and military escalation,” the statement reportedly concluded.
The Yemeni government’s allies strongly condemned the attack as a threat to international market stability, in addition to its “terrorist” nature.
“The UAE stressed [sic] that this attack is a dangerous escalation and blatant defiance to the international community, and efforts made to end the Yemeni crisis,” that nation’s Foreign Affairs Ministry asserted.
“The attack is a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and of international laws and norms,” the Saudi Foreign Affairs ministry concurred.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a spokesman and senior official for Ansar Allah, issued statements on Twitter on Saturday that appeared to confirm that the tanker, not the oil terminal, was the true target of the attack.
“This attack was a warning to the oil tanker commissioned to steal Yemen’s oil. The attack was not aimed at targeting the terminal,” Bukhaiti wrote. The “stealing” the Houthi official referred to appears to be simply that the oil being trafficked through the port is being done so through business with the legitimate government of Yemen and thus not profiting the Houthis.
“Next time, the oil tankers will be targeted unless the aggressive countries stop stealing our wealth and direct the revenues to paying salaries,” Bukhaiti warned. “If international law allows the aggressive countries to kill Yemenis, besieging them and looting their wealth, we will bury it like what we have done with the U.N. Security Council resolutions and international community condemnations.”
The Saudi-led coalition of states aiding the Yemeni government warned in March that the Houthis had been planning to target oil tankers, a message the world largely ignored. The warning included a claim that the military alliance had intercepted Houthi water-borne bombs aiming for oil tankers already.
“The terrorist, Iran-backed Houthi militia escalated its hostile, cross-border attacks towards the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] last night and earlier this morning, targeting civilian objects and economic installations in a deliberate, systematic manner,” coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said at the time, referring to the bomb boats allegedly halted. The Houthis did not respond to the accusations, either taking responsibility or denying a role.
The alleged bomb boat attacks followed a weekend in which the Houthis launched a major bombing campaign against Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials said that the attacks consisted of shooting Iranian-made missiles at Riyadh, the nation’s capital, and the critical port city of Jeddah to destroy an oil refinery and two petroleum distribution terminals. They reportedly caused minimal damage to one Jeddah oil facility owned by the Saudi oil company Aramco.
The wave of bombings in March alarmed Saudi Arabia’s oil magnates. The CEO of Aramco, Amin Nasser, warned that global oil supply may be dramatically reduced if the Houthis manage to improve their aim at his oil facilities.
“The message that came out highlighted that these types of attacks and that type of escalation during a time when the market is very tight is a real concern for the world for it will have – God forbid – if more escalations happen over time, it might have some impact on supply,” Nasser warned.
The OPEC+ oil cartel agreed this month to reduce oil production collectively by 2 million barrels of oil per day, dramatically raising already skyrocketing oil prices.
On Friday, March 25, the Houthis bombed an Aramco oil tank facility in Jeddah, causing a major fire and interrupting preparations for F1 racing’s Saudi Arabia Grand Prix and terrifying drivers who thought the smell of burning oil was coming from their cars.
The Biden White House has refused to designate the Houthis a terrorist organization once again on the grounds that doing so would prevent American funding for “humanitarian” aid from going to them.
“Humanitarian considerations continue to be an important factor in any decision regarding a Foreign Terrorist Designation of Ansar Allah,” a spokesperson for the Biden State Department said in July. “We are currently focused on securing, extending, and building on the United Nations truce in Yemen, which is having a tangible impact on millions of Yemenis and provides a credible opportunity for peace in Yemen.”
That truce collapsed in early October. The Biden administration has not indicated that it has since reconsidered re-designation of the Houthis as terrorists at press time.