Yemen

Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses,

Your Excellency Mr. Philemon Yang, President of the General Assembly of the United Nations,

Your Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is perhaps fortunate that our address to you today coincides with a glorious national occasion for the Yemeni people – the 26th of September, on which our people made history 62 years ago by overthrowing the racist Imamate regime and declaring the Republic.

This is an occasion for me to renew my congratulations to the Yemeni people everywhere, and to express our pride and appreciation for the courage of those young men and women, and the opinion leaders, who each year on this immortal day defy the Houthi machine of oppression backed by the Iranian regime.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Yemeni Government remains committed to the approach of comprehensive and just peace in accordance with its national, regional, and international terms of reference. However, it is necessary in the meantime to strengthen its position to confront any other options, given the continuous escalation by the Houthi militias both locally and regionally.

To prevent the expansion and continuation of this escalation, there is an urgent need for a collective approach to support the Yemeni Government and enhance its institutional capacities to protect its territorial waters and secure the entirety of its national territory.

Without addressing these needs, and implementing the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy concerning the ban on the flow of Iranian weapons, and cutting off sources of funding, the militias will not engage with any efforts to achieve comprehensive and just peace, nor will they cease their methods of extortion against the regional and international communities.

History teaches us, ladies and gentlemen, that leniency toward the enemies of peace is the beginning of the most heinous, costly, and complicated wars.

Despite the truce that the Government agreed to in April 2022, the militias continued their military violations and their grave abuses of human rights and of national and international law.

In October 2022, the Houthi militias shelled the oil export ports in the governorates of Hadramawt and Shabwa, depriving the Yemeni people of the revenues necessary to pay salaries and provide basic services, exacerbating the humanitarian suffering, and driving the national currency down to unprecedented levels.

Recently, the Yemeni Government froze its decisions regarding the relocation of bank headquarters from Sana'a, which is under militia control, to the temporary capital, Aden, in response to a request from the United Nations and the international community to de-escalate, on condition that the Houthis participate in serious talks to address the economic crises and revive peace efforts under a roadmap mediated by our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman.

Nevertheless, the militias responded by hijacking three Yemenia Airways aircraft, attacking the "Safer" oil facility in Marib governorate with drones, and issuing racist laws and regulations to concentrate public office in a particular category of their loyal militants, foremost among them the judiciary – indicating further repressive measures to come against public freedoms and civil society work.

The continuation of this pattern of reckless escalation in response to de-escalation initiatives requires the international community to adopt firm policies to push the militias toward the option of peace in accordance with its international terms of reference, especially Resolution 2216, instead of their futile escalation.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Nearly four months have passed since the terrorist Houthi militias arrested dozens of United Nations staff, adding them to the thousands of innocent women, children, youth, and elderly who have been forcibly disappeared in its prisons for years – foremost among them the activist Mohammed Qahtan, who is subject to a UN Security Council resolution.

It is no secret to you that there is a widespread belief that the United Nations bears responsibility for having given the militias the opportunity to kidnap this unprecedented number of relief workers, non-governmental organization staff, activists, and civil society leaders, due to its failure to respond to the Yemeni Government's request to relocate its headquarters from Sana'a to the temporary capital, Aden.

By not taking the militias' threat seriously, and by keeping its headquarters in Sana'a, the United Nations unintentionally enabled these terrorists to use its staff and assets as hostages and as a bargaining chip to extort the international community and extract negotiating concessions that cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

The continuation of this situation is indefensible and unjustifiable, because the presence of the main UN headquarters in Sana'a constitutes an incentive for militias classified on the terrorism list, and a danger to relief workers and human rights defenders. It is necessary to reconsider these policies and arrangements immediately.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Houthi militias, through their continuous terrorist attacks on global trade movement in the Red Sea and the surrounding waterways, demonstrate that they constitute a growing threat, not only to Yemen's interior, as some believed a decade ago, but also to the stability of the entire region and the safe flow of international trade worth more than a trillion dollars.

Today they are consolidating their position as the first rebel group in history to use ballistic missiles and drones against civilian commercial ships.

Late last month, the Houthi militias struck the tanker "Sounion," carrying about a million barrels of crude oil, causing fires that threatened one of the largest oil spills in history, before the ship was rescued at the last moment by the international coalition.

This is not the first such incident undertaken by the militias, as they previously boasted of sinking two other ships, and for years obstructed efforts to offload the decrepit "Safer" vessel, which carried a similar quantity of crude oil – confirming that their terrorist acts will remain a sustained threat to maritime security.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For years, the Yemeni economy has faced complex challenges, but the Houthi terrorist attacks on oil facilities have deepened the financial crisis to an unprecedented degree, depriving the Yemeni people and their government of the main revenues directed toward paying salaries and providing services.

The economic war waged by the militias is part of a broader hostile strategy aimed at weakening the Government's ability to provide basic services and pay public sector salaries, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis for more than 14 million Yemenis.

It is therefore important for the international community to seriously perceive the catastrophic effects of these terrorist acts, and to take the initiative to secure vital infrastructure and protect maritime shipping vessels in Yemeni ports, in support of the right of Yemenis and their Government to benefit from their national resources to improve their living conditions.

Protecting the arteries of the Yemeni economy is essential, not only for the country's recovery and the building of its future, but also for the stability of the region and global energy security in the long term.

For this reason, the Republic of Yemen renews its call to the international community to provide urgent and comprehensive support to confront the catastrophic humanitarian situation and lay the foundations for long-term economic recovery. This includes not only immediate humanitarian assistance to alleviate suffering and stronger accountability mechanisms, especially in areas controlled by the militias, but also greater investments in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and sustainable development, as well as strengthening national capacities to reduce the effects of climate change, which has left hundreds of victims and displaced thousands more over the past two months.

Yemen's recovery is not merely a national issue, but a regional and global necessity, since its stability is crucial for maintaining peace and regional security, and the trade routes in the Red and Arabian Seas and the surrounding waterways, including the Suez Canal.

We have appreciated international support in the past, and we will continue to express our gratitude for your moral responsibility – foremost the Coalition to Support Legitimacy led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – to realize the aspirations of the Yemeni people for stability, peace, and prosperity, and to provide the resources necessary to rebuild its institutions and social fabric.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Arab region today faces a difficult test in the battle to build the state and to keep pace with the civilizational progress that this session takes as its goal.

Whenever the countries of the region witness genuine transformations toward development, peace, and prosperity, and the empowerment of their peoples with their political, economic, and social rights, the forces of evil emerge with their destructive schemes, encouraged by international leniency toward rogue groups and their supporters, who understand this as a sign that they are on the right path to achieving their illegitimate goals.

The outcome of this battle between the forces of peace and the axis of evil will determine the chances of survival and development of civilization in this part of the world where the oldest human civilizations emerged, or its slide into further chaos, civil wars, the dominance of militias and weapons, oppression, and backwardness.

The path to peace must pass through supporting the efforts of the forces of moderation in the region, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which, together with our brothers in the Coalition to Support Legitimacy, has borne the responsibility of defending international resolutions, extended a helping hand, and opened its doors to receive millions from countries of war and armed conflict.

Thus, history and logic make clear why we are grateful to these countries, and why the world should rely on them to establish the foundations of peace and stability, and to maximize the benefits our peoples derive from their remarkable economic and social development.

On this basis, ladies and gentlemen, the false narratives regarding the Yemeni cause must end, especially those that downplay the role of Iran and its weapons in destabilizing the security and stability of Yemen, the region, and the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The brutal Israeli war against the Palestinian people must stop immediately, because that is the key to the desired peace, and the gateway to removing the cover for Iran's and its proxies' pretexts for aggravating the situation in the region.

The story of Iran's exploitation of the just Palestinian cause is not a recent development, but a history of extortion and propagandistic postures that have led only to obstructing the path of peace and squandering the gains of the Palestinian people and their right to establish their independent, fully sovereign state.

As is the case with the Yemeni situation, the path to ending the suffering of the Palestinian people must be based on the enforcement of the resolutions of international legitimacy and the relevant terms of reference, especially the Arab Peace Initiative.

As is the case with both the Yemeni and Palestinian situations, the only way to deter the brutal Israeli aggression against Lebanon will be through a firm stance by the international community, the unity of the Lebanese themselves, the independence of their decision-making, and non-interference in their country's internal affairs.

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I renew the reminder that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins by affirming that "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world."

These principles have, relatively, withstood the test of decades under the umbrella of our United Nations system. However, the pinnacle of rebellion against them, and against national and international ethics and norms, and boasting of committing every prohibited act, has been reached only by the leaders of al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Houthi militias, who promise the world further devastation.

Thank you.

Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.