Strike Houthis while Iran is weak, UN-backed Yemeni government urges west

The west should seize the opportunity to target the Tehran-backed Houthi leadership in Yemen while the Iranian government is weakened, the vice-president of the UN-backed government in Aden has said.

Aidarus al-Zoubaidi said that Iran’s reverses in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza had left the country “massively weakened”. “They have one remaining domain and that is Yemen,” Zoubaidi told the Guardian. “Now is the time to counter the Houthis and push them back into their position.”

He said Yemen ground forces should work in cooperation with western airstrikes as part of a multi-pronged strategy.

Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, he also called on the new US administration to designate the Houthis a foreign terrorist organisation, and praised Donald Trump for showing “decisive leadership”.

His remarks suggest that the Presidential Leadership Council, based in the Yemeni city Aden, regards the weakening of Iran and the return of Trump as an opportunity to launch a joint military offensive against the Houthis, including the potential use of ground forces.

He predicted: “Iran will not give up on the Houthis, but on the contrary double down on its support for the Houthis as the last remaining component of its chain of proxy forces. So this is the right time for us also to double time and push them to the maximum”. Iran says the Houthis are an independent political force.

Zoubaidi said the Aden government was willing to provide intelligence advice to all those mounting attacks on Houthi positions. “We are willing to work with everyone on this”, he said, in remarks that suggest some cooperation could take place even with Israel.

He said the attacks mounted so far largely by the US and the UK on the Houthis “had not been effective because it’s not targeting the Houthi leadership, or their main locations or headquarters. It’s not joined-up, or comprehensive. It’s just airstrikes. Joined-up means also a military operation on the ground”.

The US attacks have been designed to deter the Houthis from firing on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, attacks the Houthis say have been acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The group gained control of the capital of Yemen, Sana’a, in 2014.

The Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said on Monday that during the Gaza ceasefire, Houthi forces would only attack shipping directly linked to Israel, meaning British- or US-owned ships would be spared. The Houthis say they are in talks to release the crew of the Galaxy Leader, who have been held hostage by the group since November 2023.

Zoubaidi said the social structure of Houthi support was different from that of Hezbollah and Hamas, so simply going after its leadership would not be enough.

He also criticised the Biden administration for “a lack of assertiveness”, highlighting the decision to lift the foreign terrorist designation in favour of a lesser classification. Zoubaidi, who is also the president of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), said “the decision had given the Houthis space in which to work and to do what they have done”.

Overall his remarks were a sign that the year-old diplomatic roadmap for peace was no longer seen as a viable option.

The STC enjoys support from the United Arab Emirates, and it is not clear whether Zoubaidi’s call for a tougher military approach has the support of Saudi Arabia or the new US foreign policy team.