Deploy Tough Sanctions and Diplomacy to Isolate the Houthis in Yemen
Shafaq News/ On Sunday night, in their third attack in as many weeks, Houthi radicals in Yemen unleashed a new barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles and weaponized drones against civilian sites across the United Arab Emirates.
U.A.E. and U.S. air defenses knocked most from the sky. Some got through earlier in January, landing at and around Abu Dhabi’s international airport. Three innocent Indian and Pakistani residents of the U.A.E. were killed. But the tragedy could have been larger. More than 32,000 international travelers pass through the airport every day. More than 65,000 Americans live in the U.A.E., among more than eight million foreign residents from nearly every country. On Sunday, Isaac Herzog began the first ever visit to the U.A.E. by an Israeli president to meet with U.A.E. leaders and visit the Israeli pavilion at the World Expo in Dubai.
The United Nations Security Council, the Biden administration and more than 120 countries and international organizations condemned these acts of terrorism. The denunciation reflects the global consensus that the Houthis’ disregard for civilian casualties and targeting of civilian infrastructure is a threat to collective peace and security.
Like the U.S. and any other sovereign nation, the U.A.E. will take all necessary measures, proportionate and consistent with international law, to defend itself from further attacks. But the threat posed by the Houthis and other extremist non-state actors with access to long-range missiles and drone technology is a looming crisis.
Containing Houthi aggression requires broad diplomatic pressure, tougher U.S. and international sanctions, intensified efforts to block weapons proliferation, and the development and wider deployment of effective countermeasures.
As an immediate priority, Washington should relist the Houthis as a designated foreign terrorist organization under U.S. law. This would help choke off their financial and arms supplies without restricting humanitarian relief for the Yemeni people. Last February the U.S. removed the Houthis from the list to encourage a reduction in hostilities. Instead, they became even more belligerent, intensifying their violence against civilian targets. Over the last year the Houthis ransacked the U.S. Embassy compound in the Yemeni capital, San’a, and kidnapped local employees, intentionally bombed a humanitarian warehouse in Yemen, and seized a ship in the Red Sea carrying medical supplies. They have refused to engage in the peace process or meet with U.N. or U.S. envoys. They doubled their missile attacks against cities and towns in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis are responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Their aggression started the war, and they have violated agreements to reduce hostilities. New U.N. documents show they have diverted aid and starved families and communities they deem insufficiently loyal. Through all this, the U.A.E. has been—and will continue to be—one of Yemen’s largest providers of humanitarian assistance.
The weapons pipeline to the Houthis also must be stopped. A recent U.N. Security Council report found that Iran is supplying illicit arms to the Houthis in violation of the U.N. arms embargo. In recent months, the U.S. Navy has seized thousands of weapons likely from Iran headed to Yemen. Lebanese Hezbollah has been sharing missile and drone know-how.
Better antimissile and antidrone capabilities are also needed. The U.S.’s Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems prevented an even greater loss of life in the January strikes. The U.A.E. will intensify its cooperation with the U.S. to expand and improve this protective umbrella for itself, U.S. assets in the region and other Gulf allies.
More diplomatic pressure, sanctions and maritime enforcement can isolate the Houthis and shut down financial and arms flows. The U.A.E. suspended its combat involvement and removed all ground troops from Yemen in 2019. Working with the U.N. and U.S. special envoys, we believe that peace can come to Yemen through political, not military, means.
It should start with a cease-fire. The Houthis disagree and instead are shunning talks and firing long-range missiles. They employ terror tactics against the Yemeni people to feed their war machine and prolong the war. The U.N. report described a pattern of sexual violence, torture, recruitment of child soldiers and the indiscriminate use of land mines in populated areas.
The Houthis essentially have designated themselves as terrorists—the U.N., U.S. and every other responsible nation and international organization should do the same.
Houthi drones and missiles target the U.A.E., but their real aim is something more. The Middle East is changing. People are tired of conflict and division. The Houthis and their backers are attacking a new vision of the future taking shape in the U.A.E. and around the region—of religious coexistence, women’s empowerment, economic opportunity and global engagement.
As we defend the U.A.E. and our way of life, we are determined to ease tensions and create a hopeful future. The U.A.E.’s opening of direct ties with Israel has created new possibilities. We are expanding diplomatic efforts across the region toward dialogue and de-escalation. Less shooting and more talking is the only way to build the Middle East neighborhood we all want.
Source: Wall Street Journal
