Yemen a Focus of Iranian-Saudi Arabian Strife: Iran Backs Yemeni Shiites in War

[Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center] On August 11, the Yemeni army began an offensive against rebels of the al-Houthi clan, Zaydi-Shi'ites who live in north Yemen near the Saudi Arabian border. Yemen claims that its security forces captured money and trucks loaded with weapons sent to the rebels by Iran. Iran regards Yemen and its Shi'ite north as an arena from which to subvert Saudi Arabia and to establish an Iranian presence in Red Sea countries which control the sea lanes leading from the Persian Gulf to the heart of the Middle East and Europe. Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Salah told Al-Jazeera TV on Sept. 11 that Yemeni security forces had detained two squads whose members admitted to having received $100,000 from sources in Iran.


2009-10-05 06:00:00

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