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There is new talk about the war in Yemen. Pro #Iran voices are parroting Tehran’s talking points to score cheap political points & blame Trump, while safeguarding away from Obama & Iran.
Tehran supports Yemen’s Houthi militias. Obama knew & did nothing.
#ObamaGate
Neither these individuals, nor The New York Times, will ever shed light on the fact that Iran’s regime is the main reason why the scene in Yemen remains a bloody stalemate.
jpost.com/Middle-East/Re…
Let’s take look back.
Dec 14, 2014—(Obama years)
“…Reuters has details — from Yemeni, Western and Iranian sources — of Iranian military and financial support to the Houthis before and after their takeover of Sanaa on Sept. 21.”
reuters.com/article/us-yem…
May 27, 2015—(Obama years)
“The Iranian leadership earlier this month ordered militants from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, along with Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, to Yemen…”
freebeacon.com/national-secur…
2015 Iran nuclear deal
Obama provided $1.7 billion in cash to Iran that "has been traced to Iran’s backing of Houthi rebels seeking to take power in Yemen."
washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/…
Aug 4, 2016—(Obama years)
“… Houthis had concealed fighters and equipment in or close to civilians in Al Mukha in the Taiz Governorate “with the deliberate aim of avoiding attack” and in violation of international humanitarian law.”
reuters.com/article/us-yem…
Jan 1, 2017—(Obama years)
“He said that there were Iranian experts and Lebanese from Hezbollah militias currently in Saada helping run secret training facilities.”
english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2…
Same source:
“… Houthis had diverted about $100 million a month from Yemen’s central bank to support the group’s war effort and that the foreign reserves of the central bank had dropped to $1.3 billion in June 2016 from $4.6 billion in November 2014.”
Here’s a look at the logistics Iran provides for the Houthis, littering the country with mines & explosives.
Footage of Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen targeting a UN aid truck.
Feb 1, 2017—Just days after the Obama era & into the Trump presidency
“Iranian-backed Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen launched an attack on a Saudi Arabian naval vessel using suicide boats, or fast-attack craft laden with explosives.”
uk.businessinsider.com/us-navy-iran-h…
March 22, 2017
“… seven Houthi Qasef-1 drones and one drone engine recovered by forces from the United Arab Emirates. Six of the drones were captured in October on a known Iranian smuggling route that runs through Oman, …”
washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoin…
June 1, 2017
“… an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officer, known by his nom de guerre “Abu Ali,” led a 52-man Houthi armored assault convoy armed with Katyusha missile launchers…”
warontherocks.com/2017/06/irans-…
May 2, 2018
Over 100 Iranian experts providing logistical and technical support to the Houthi militias of Yemen's Sa'dah Province are surrounded by Arab coalition-backed forces, reports indicate.
english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2…
June 17, 2018
“Houthi rebels in the port city of Hodeidah were rounding up civilians… and detaining them in prisons near arms depots to prevent coalition air strikes knocking out the Iranian-armed group’s equipment…”
thenational.ae/world/mena/hou…
Aug 7, 2018
“We asked the Yemenis to attack the two Saudi oil tankers, so they did it," Shaabani said.
Iran’s Fars News Agency deleted the article, considered a blatant admission by Tehran of supporting the Houthis, minutes after publishing it.
english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2…
Aug 21, 2018
“Iran not only supported Yemen’s Houthis with weaponry but gave them directives to attack two Saudi Arabian oil tankers on July 25.”
jpost.com/Middle-East/Re…
Feb 1, 2019
Yemen army: Each month Iran provides $30 million of oil products to the Houthi militias
bit.ly/2SlMTMK (Arabic)
Dec 24, 2019—Muscat, Oman
@JZarif meets with Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdel Salam.
Another image shows a Houthi rally in Yemen with posters of Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini (L) & current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R).
How has President Trump responded to Iran’s support of the Houthis?
Dec 14, 2017
Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, displays evidence of Iran providing missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen.
July 4, 2018
“US Treasury Department sanctioned five members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missile command over their role in the Houthi’s missile program.”
longwarjournal.org/archives/2018/…
Nov 8, 2018
“Trump administration considers naming Yemen’s Houthi rebels a terrorist group”
washingtonpost.com/world/national…
Dec 4, 2019
“US Navy seizes suspected Iranian missile parts set for Yemen”
"...the incident illustrates the continuing illegal smuggling of weapons to Houthi rebels..."
apnews.com/8c96dd8291fb93…
Feb 1, 2020
"Yemen’s Houthi Shiite rebels are receiving parts for drones and weapons, some with technical characteristics similar to arms manufactured in Iran..."
timesofisrael.com/un-experts-yem…
My take:
Obama was fully aware of Iran’s support for the Houthis in Yemen yet looked the other way to further appease Tehran with the ultimate objective of obtaining the highly flawed 2015 nuclear deal.
If interested, a thread on the Obama years.