Yemen Falls

Sanaa, Yemen's beautiful capital

Shiite Rebels Are Yemen's New Masters - Hamza Hendawi
 
Anti-American Shiite rebels known as Houthis man checkpoints and roam the streets in pickups mounted with anti-aircraft guns after they overran Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, two weeks ago. Rebel fighters have plastered the city with fliers proclaiming their slogan - "Death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory to Islam."
     
The Houthis, who are backed by Shiite-led Iran, are poised to become Yemen's version of the Shiite Hizbullah in Lebanon - top powerbrokers dominating the government. After the fall of Sanaa, Houthis staged a massive victory rally in the city, flying Hizbullah flags and portraits of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
(AP-ABC News)


Yemen Changes Hands: Will an Iranian Stronghold Emerge?
- Jacques Neriah
 
Zaydi Shiites from the Houthi clan have taken control of the capital of Yemen. 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. 

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.
(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
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Yemen May Not Offer Best Model

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL, wherever they exist, using our air power. And our support for partners - forces - on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years."
[National Public Radio]
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UPDATES: 

Yemen: Houthis Set Up Iranian Cultural Centers - Hamdan Al-Rahbi

Houthi fighters stormed Yemen's Interior Ministry in Sana'a. The Houthis are continuing to advance in a number of other Yemeni provinces while meeting little or no resistance from government forces. 

Meanwhile, Iranian culture centers are being established in Yemeni provinces under Houthi control, including Hajjah province which borders Saudi Arabia, with the objective of spreading Shi'ism. 
(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK)
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Iran: “The Fourth Arab Capital in Our Hands”

A member of the Iranian parliament who is close to Khamenei declared, “Three Arab capitals (Beirut, Damascus, and Baghdad) have already fallen into Iran’s hands and belong to the Iranian Islamic Revolution.” He suggested Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, is the fourth.
[Jerusalem Center for Public Affaris]
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