A senior leader within the Yemeni Houthi terrorist organization claimed in remarks on Sunday that Russia, China, and other members of the BRICS geopolitical coalition are cooperating with the Houthis to achieve “the historic defeat of the US, the UK and the West.”
The Houthis, formally known as “Ansar Allah,” is a Shiite jihadist terror organization that controls the capital of Yemen, Sana’a, and has been fighting a civil war against the legitimate government of the country since 2014. The Houthis greatly increased their international leverage last year by declaring war on Israel – a move meant to support the fellow Iran-backed terrorist organization Hamas – and launching a campaign of random attacks on commercial ships attempting to transit in and around the Red Sea.
In this photo provided by the Indian Navy on January 27, 2024, a view of the oil tanker Marlin Luanda on fire after an attack, in the Gulf of Aden. (Indian Navy via AP)
The head of the Houthis, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, claimed in a speech on Thursday that the group had targeted 73 ships since October 2023. Houthi leaders insist they are only targeting ships with direct ties to Israel, the United States, or the United Kingdom in an attempt to stop Israel’s self-defense operations against Hamas in Gaza. In reality, they have targeted a growing number of ships with no affiliations with those countries. Some Houthi targets had links to countries the Houthis claim to maintain friendly ties to, such as BRICS countries Russia, China, and Iran.
Ali al-Qahoum, a member of the Houthi “political bureau,” described the Houthi plan as “drowning the US, the UK and the West in the swamp of the Red Sea and on the high seas” so that they cannot “maintain the unipolar [world order],” according to the Iranian state media outlet PressTV.
He claimed that “Russia, China, and the BRICS countries” are cooperating in achieving that goal.
“Yemen plans for the foreseeable future and prepares for the historic defeat of the US, the UK and the West, and the collapse of the colonial project and Western hegemony in the region and the world,” al-Qahoum added.
This handout screen grab captured from a video shows Yemen’s Houthi fighters’ takeover of the Galaxy Leader Cargo in the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, on November 20, 2023, in the Red Sea, Yemen. (Houthi Movement via Getty Images)
Iran, whose state outlet publicized the comments, is a member of BRICS, one of six countries newly offered membership at the end of 2023. Three other countries – Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – officially joined after receiving invites. One country, Argentina, declined the invitation following the election of libertarian President Javier Milei in December. The last of the six, Saudi Arabia, had publicly claimed it would accept the invitation but, as of February, had not formalized its membership.
BRICS is named after the original five countries at the core of its membership: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Its members are largely united by anti-American sentiment and not being part of the greater West. It is meant to facilitate economic cooperation among its members as well as support within international venues such as the United Nations.
Given the limited joint interests among the countries, members often find themselves in disputes with each other. India and China have engaged in multiple military battles in the past half-decade, Brazil under former conservative President Jair Bolsonaro opposed many of BRICS’s left-wing causes, and South Africa found itself in the unenviable position of excluding Russian strongman Vladimir Putin from the BRICS summit last year after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest. A more recent dispute emerging is India’s outrage at reports of Indian men being scammed into fighting with the Russian military in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Houthi fighters and tribesmen stage a rally against the U.S. and the U.K. strikes on Houthi-run military sites near Sanaa, Yemen, on January 14, 2024. (AP Photo)
The introduction of new BRICS members, and in particular Iran, has complicated this scenario even further. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been geopolitical rivals for decades, largely as a result of Iran funding terrorist organizations, such as the Houthis, that have attacked Saudi soil. Saudi Arabia’s longstanding military support for the legitimate government of Yemen calls into question Houthi claims that BRICS has enthusiastically supported their cause.
The Houthis have also caused significant strife for Egypt and South Africa. Their campaign to target ships seeking entry into the Red Sea has led to a 50-percent drop in toll revenues at the Suez Canal, a major moneymaker for the Egyptian government. Egyptian officials increased the toll at the canal and touted a plan to sell a Mediterranean resort estate to UAE last week as measures to offset Houthi-related Losses. Ships avoiding the Suez Canal are redirecting around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, also hurting that nation, primarily by causing traffic jams at poorly equipped South African ports.
On Thursday, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi announced his terrorists would begin targeting ships trying to travel from the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, expanding the scope of their terrorist activities.
“By the grace of Allah and His assistance, we aim to prevent the passage of ships associated with the Israeli enemy even through the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Cape of Good Hope,” Houthi warned. “For this important, advanced, and significant step, we have begun to implement our operations related to it through the Indian Ocean and from South Africa towards the Cape of Good Hope.”