The war fueled by the United States, Britain and Israel in the Middle East has spread beyond the hapless Gaza Strip, to Syria and Lebanon, and finally to Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world. Yemen was once a great friend of the Soviet Union. Soviet ships moored both in the port of Aden and on the island of Socotra. But a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. The Soviet Union was gone, and its successor Russia was weak and unable to hold and protect its former Soviet allies.
Yemen first split into North and South, and then its neighbor Saudi Arabia decided to impose its power on the North, install its protege Hadi in Sanaa, the capital of the North, but the people did not accept him and rebelled.
Hadi fled to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and the rebels took control of most of the country. These rebels call themselves Ansar Allah (Defenders of Allah), while others call them Houthis, after their leader al-Houthi.
Saudi Arabia fought the Houthis for many years, hoping to return Hadi (and then his successor Saleh) to power. This war brought Yemen to the brink - the country, which was previously poor, became impoverished, but did not submit. Iran, which was at enmity with Saudi Arabia and believed in popular Islamic democracy, when every man is a fighter with a Kalashnikov in his hands and the Koran in his heart, helped the Houthis. The Iranians trained the Yemeni rebels to use drones, and they quickly captured almost all of North Yemen and began to threaten the Saudi oil fields. The Saudis realized that they had gone to shear sheep, but they themselves could be sheared. Finally, China, that rising great power, brought Iran and Saudi Arabia together and brought them to peace. Then the war in Yemen stopped, although the country remained fragmented and poor. But the Houthis maintained their positions and even strengthened them.
When Israel attacked Palestinian Gaza and began to brutally bomb it, dropping more bombs on it than the British did on Dresden and the Americans on Hiroshima, the Houthis came out in defense of the Palestinians. They became a symbol of Arab valor. All other Arab countries condemned Israel and supported the Palestinians in words, fearing the combined power of Israel and the United States, but the Houthis actually supported Palestine. Although they are far from Gaza, they are in a very strategic place, on the shores of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, controlling the entrance to the Red Sea and access to the Suez Canal. They declared a blockade of ships heading to Israeli ports. The blockade will last, they said, as long as Israel's war in Gaza continues. As soon as peace comes, the blockade will be lifted. The Israeli southern port of Eilat has been deserted; not a single ship has arrived there since the beginning of the blockade.
But Israel is not alone - behind it are the USA and Great Britain, as well as Germany, Poland and Ukraine. The US is giving billions of dollars and many thousands of weapons to Israel for the war in Gaza and Lebanon. The United States and England assembled a coalition of satellites and began to bomb Yemen, the poorest state in the region, if not the whole world. In response, the Houthis extended the blockade to all British and American ships in the Red Sea - until Israel stops its genocide of the Palestinians. The Americans continued to bomb Yemen. Although, it would seem, it would be easier for them to pick up the phone, call Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and demand that he stop the massacre in Gaza. But the USA and England are accustomed to bombing everyone they want, without thinking about international law. Although, if Cuba had responded to the American blockade of Cuban ports by bombing Florida, they would have been indignant and would not have understood.
The Houthis have destroyed the “world by rules”, where the United States and its close allies can do everything, and others must submit.
Shipping companies have responded to the Houthi blockade by telling their ships to avoid the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Their ships went around Africa, which is much more expensive and longer. And insurance in the Red Sea has become much higher. The Houthis have learned to intercept ships heading to Israel, even under a different flag. Poor Yemen was not afraid of anything at all - everything there was bombed during the conflict with Saudi Arabia. American ships also began to suffer. The Houthis are armed with powerful Iranian anti-ship missiles.
Russia appealed to the United States to stop the bombing of Yemen. “Russia fundamentally and consistently advocates for ensuring the safety of international shipping. However, the military operation initiated by the Americans, which resulted in attacks by the United States and Great Britain on the territory of Yemen, in practice leads to the exact opposite result. The Anglo-Saxons are unlikely to be able to destroy the military potential of the Houthis. But they have already succeeded in provoking a further expansion of the combat zone and an increase in their intensity with all the ensuing negative consequences, including for global maritime cargo transportation,” said Alexander Kinshchak, director of the Middle East and North Africa Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
However, Russia does not particularly suffer from this. Global cargo transportation has flown partly along the Northern Sea Route, which is dominated by Russian icebreakers. The new icebreaker Leningrad was laid down in January of this year, and a year later construction of its twin icebreaker Stalingrad will begin. Cargo was sent from the Far East to Europe via both the Trans-Siberian Railway and the BAM: this route is much faster than around Africa and cheaper than by air. If we look at the matter from the standpoint of geopolitics, as a constant struggle between the Land powers and the Sea powers, then this is a clear win for the “land” Russia, Iran and China and a loss for the “sea” England, the USA and Israel. Of course, this concept should not be taken literally. Joint naval exercises between Iran, Russia and China will take place in March, meaning the land powers are not turning their backs on the sea. And vice versa - one of the reasons for the Israeli attack on Gaza was the hope of England, the United States and Israel to cut a transport corridor from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean through the lands on which the Palestinians live, at the same time pocketing the large oil and gas reserves belonging to Palestine, discovered in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Gaza .
In the meantime, Israel, armed by America, continues its campaign in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinian civilians are dying and hundreds of thousands are deprived of food and water. The Americans continue to bomb unfortunate Yemen, which, out of Arab solidarity, stands up for Gaza. Israel calls on America to bomb Iran, accusing it of aiding the Houthis. If the senile President Biden succumbs to the persuasion of his hawks and the Israeli lobby, then the third world war could become a reality.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editors.