The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In early March 2022, the Lebanese Al-Akhbar daily, which is affiliated with Hizbullah, wrote that "a new 'hurricane' seems to be raging over the capitals of the countries of the Saudi-UAE coalition, and especially over their oil facilities, this time in response to the tightening of the blockade by the Arab Coalition [To Restore Legitimacy In Yemen, led by Saudi Arabia] against bringing in oil products through the Al-Hudaydah Port.[1]
In fact, during the same period, senior members of the Houthi Ansar Allah movement were threatening to escalate aerial attacks against Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This, they claimed, was in response to the Saudi-led coalition blocking entry to the port to four oil tankers, which significantly worsened the economic crisis.
During a conference which was held on March 6, in memory of Ansar Allah leader Hussein Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi, Houthi Prime Minister Abd Al-Aziz Salih Bin Habtour said that the attacks perpetrated in the framework of Hurricane Yemen[2] were "a message to external [elements] that are scheming against Yemen and consolidating their resources so as to hold [Yemen] a prisoner of the aggression and the blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE under the auspices of the U.S. and Britain." He asserted that, "Hurricane Yemen in the eighth year of the aggression will be such that it will destroy the enemies who attacked Yemen, and its past, present and future."[3]
On the previous day, Ali Al-Qahoum, a member of the Ansar Allah movement's political bureau, warned that, "The continuation of the economic siege and a tightening of the noose around the neck of the Yemeni people regarding everything connected to its livelihood, and preventing the entry of petroleum products will not go unpunished. The Coalition must understand that we will and will not stand idly by while they commit this crime." He added, "The long arm of the missile and UAV unit will play its role against Aramco, against other oil companies, and against more sensitive sites." Muhammad Al-Farah, another member of the political bureau, also threatened that "Saudi and Emirati oil fields and companies will not be safe as long as our people are under siege."[4]
It should be noted that during February 2022 there was a sharp rise of more than 16% in the price of fuel in the territories under the control of the Ansar Allah movement.[5] Therefore, it is possible that the Houthis are attempting to claim to the angry masses that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are to blame for the crisis, and to create an impression of popular support for escalating attacks against these countries.
As part of this effort, on March 7, 2022, the movement organized mass demonstrations under the slogan, "The Blockade of Petroleum Products Is an American Decision and We Choose Hurricane Yemen." Participants in the demonstrations, which took place in Sana'a, Dhamar, Sa'dah, Ta'izz, and Al-Hudaydah included senior members of Ansar Allah, among them members of parliament, members of the Shura Council and senior officials in the army and security apparatuses. They expressed support for "the military measures taken by the leadership to deter the aggression and break the blockade… The choice of the Yemeni people in its stand against the siege of aggression is Hurricane Yemen, by means of fundraising and recruiting personnel to the fronts."[6]
The above demonstration took place in Sa'dah Governorate (Source: Ansarollah.com, March 7, 2022)
The above demonstration took place in the city of Dhamar (Source: Ansarollah.com, March 7, 2022)
The above demonstration took place in Sana'a Governorate (Source: Telegram.me/ansarollah1,March 7, 2022)
The demonstrations were held in the framework of the Hurricane Yemen campaign launched by the movement on February 16, 2022, at the instruction of Mahdi Al-Madhat, president of the movement’s Supreme Political Council.[7] The goal of the campaign was to garner financial and moral support, and to encourage the residents to join the movement's military forces on the frontlines of the battle against the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen.
[1] Al-Akhbar.com, March 8, 2022.
[2] Hurricane Yemen is the name given to the three drone and rocket attacks perpetrated by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia and the UAE during January 2022. See MEMRI JTTM Reports: Houthis Claim Responsibility For Attack On Civilian Facilities in UAE, Warn Citizens And Foreigners: UAE Is No Longer Safe Country, January 17, 2022; Yemen's Houthis Launch Airborne Attacks On Saudi Arabia, UAE, Threaten: Continued 'Aggression' By These Countries Will Be Met With Further Escalation, January 24, 2022; and Houthi Ansar Allah Movement in Yemen Claims Responsibility For Third Attack This Month On UAE; Warns Locals And Foreigners To Stay Away From Likely Targets, January 31, 2022.
[3] Almasirah.news, February 6, 2022.
[4] Ansarollah.com, March 5, 2022.
[5] Alaraby.co.uk, February 10, 2022.
[6] Ansarollah.com, March 7, 2022.
[7] Saba.ye, February 16, 2022.