Yemen: Some Retreat, No Surrender
9th July 2021
The United States has resumed its criticism of Shia rebel refusal to negotiate until restrictions on smuggling and control of food aid in the north were removed. This comes two weeks after an American announcement that they were changing their negotiating strategy in Yemen by recognizing the Shia rebels as a legitimate rebel movement rather than a terrorist organization and tool of Iranian foreign policy. That foreign policy is often controlled by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) that was created in the 1980s to protect the religious dictatorship that rules Iran. The American policy change was bad news for the Saudis and the Yemeni government because Iran has been visibly in charge since late 2020, after Iran sent a Quds Force (the IRGC branch that handles foreign wars) general to be the Iranian ambassador to Yemen. Since 2015 most of the embassies and government ministries have left for the southern city of Aden, which is the temporary capital elected government the rebels are trying to replace. Iran is one of the few countries to recognize the rebels as the legitimate government and now Iran has an official ambassador in the capital. The rebels insist that because they occupy the capital and control over a third of the population, they are the real government and their opponents are southern separatists or foreigners. This ignores the fact that many of the people in rebel territory are kept in line via threats to cut off access to food, medical supplies and imported items. Tribes that try to break away risk starvation and a blockade of roadblocks and attacks on smugglers trying to get in. More and more tribes have been able to break away but the rebels have maintained a presence around many towns and cities.