Worldcrunch
As the Houthis turn politics into perpetual warfare and view the state as spoils, the international community, and UN specifically, must decide whether to treat them as legitimate actors or confront them as extremists threatening Yemen’s fragile sovereignty.
Abdul Majeed al-Zindani was one of the most prominent founders of what was known as the “Islamic Movement” – the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate in Yemen. He was sanctioned by the United States and United Nations’ Security Council over his links with al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.
Using the methods of the Islamic regime in Tehran, the Yemeni fundamentalist insurgents have imposed repressive laws to control women’s movement and behavior.
The Iranian-supported Houthi rebels in Yemen are now using the conflict in Gaza as a justification for widening its reach. But the direct clash with the U.S. and others in the Red Sea may take a nine-year-long war to a whole other level.
Houthi rebels are now blocking the strategic Red Sea, by striking or seizing merchant ships, while also attempting to launch rockets into Israeli territory. This has sparked a strong response from the U.S and Britain, escalating a situation that could impact global security in major ways, with competing powers ready to cash in.