Question:
What is happening in Yemen? Is it a local sectarian conflict between the Houthis and the state? Or is it an international conflict utilizing local tools? Please clarify, and may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
What is happening in Yemen is an international conflict that has exploited local circumstances. America is striving to "frighten" the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the man of the English in Yemen. It realizes that Ali Saleh did not leave any politician capable of reaching power, as he killed, arrested, and exiled every politician of a different orientation... Therefore, America is mobilizing some junior politicians in the South (training them) for future political authority. At the same time, it moves Iran to arm and fund the Houthis to create a hotbed to intimidate Yemen and Saudi Arabia... However, up to now, the American political line has been to threaten the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh to facilitate the movement of its interests in Yemen as a first step in subsequent stages aimed at fully establishing its influence in Yemen, a path that may not be short...
Ali Abdullah Saleh realized this and pleaded with America by concluding a security agreement with it to appease it, so it would remain silent regarding his rule... The Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, published on 12-11-2009, reported that Yemen concluded a security and military agreement with the United States after a round of talks between military and security leaders held in Sana’a over the previous two days.
This agreement addressed areas of military and security cooperation and the exchange of information and expertise in both fields. The announcement of this agreement followed a round of talks between the Chief of the General Staff of the Yemeni Army, Major General Ahmed Ali al-Ashwal, and the Director of Planning at the US Central Command, Brigadier General Jeffrey Smith...
The matter is perfectly clear to all politicians: what is happening in Yemen is an international conflict using local tools. This has been hinted at, and even explicitly stated, by the politicians of the involved nations. The British Minister of State for the Middle East, Ivan Lewis, stated during his meeting with the Yemeni Ambassador in London on 24-11-2009 that there is an Iranian role in the events, saying: "What is happening in Yemen is a proxy war..." Furthermore, on the same day, the British Minister held a session to brief several British MPs on the situation in Yemen. The British Ambassador in Sana’a, Tim Torlot, participated in the meeting and also spoke of an Iranian role, saying: "There is an Iranian influence to a certain extent..." Britain had pledged to provide aid to the Yemeni government worth £105 million, to be spent over three years starting from the current year.
All of this clearly indicates that what is happening in Yemen is an international conflict using local tools.