Sana’a threatens UAE occupation of Mayun Island

Mayun Island, located in the strategic heart of Bab al-Mandab, which is the second most important sea lane in the world. Since February 2022 until today, Mayun island has witnessed dangerous movements and accelerated military mobilization of the forces of the US-Saudi-Emirati aggression, the pace of which increased significantly during the previous weeks, unlike the past seven years.

This comes since the start of the Emirati occupier’s control of the island, in an effort to establish their dominance over the most significant international waterways and the Yemeni coasts under false pretexts. Though these actions, the UAE reveals their malicious intentions and the falseness of what they claim in their statements about wanting to extend the armistice. Therefore, this gives Sana’a the right to implement any option the goes along with the situation and the ambitions of the aggression coalition to occupy Yemen and the looting of its wealth.

This accelerating hostile move of the countries of the coalition of aggression, the last of which was the displacement of the residents of the Yemeni island of “Mayun” and the replacement of new settlers, in addition to the start of building military bases and housing units to bring about a demographic change on the island, and turn it into an “Emirati colony” in an attempt to separate it from identity and cultural values, and the historical link that links it to the governorate of Taiz. All of this is happening before the eyes of the United Nations, which did not move a finger about this blatant interference that is targeting a free, independent and sovereign state, which some express it as explicit and open international complicity.

Official Source

An official source in the local authority in Taiz governorate considered the developments and preparations of the Emirati occupiers on Mayun Island, as well as other criminal acts, as a blatant interference and a grave violation of Yemeni sovereignty, a crime witnessed by the international community, and a clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the Arab League and the Yemeni constitution.

At the same time, the source denounced “the continuation of the aggression coalition in its hostile policy and its unwillingness to achieve peace, stop the aggression and lift the siege.” The source warned of the consequences of the continuation of the aggression countries, especially the UAE occupation, in its aggressive behavior and its foolishness, whom will eventually pay the price soon, noting that the people of Yemen along with their leadership will not tolerate such behavior.

Hostile Steps

A press statement by the Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Affairs, Lieutenant-General Jalal Al-Ruwaishan on November 2, 2022, came in the wake of the hostile steps of the coalition of aggression, in which “Al-Rawishan” announced the preparations for a national conference on maritime security as a step towards imposing full sovereignty over Yemeni territorial waters, and establishing the active role of Yemen. The role includes protecting the waterways in the region and stopping the aggression’s efforts to dominate and exploit them for their benefit.

A threatening message sent by Al-Ruwaishan in which he reiterated that “the continuation of the aggression and siege will make the options to Sana’a open,” noting that “Yemen is keen on the security of the Red Sea, waterways and freedom of international navigation.”

Al-Ruwaishan’s statements were preceded by several messages sent by Sana’a during the last period in which they emphasized the tendency towards imposing sovereignty over Yemeni territorial waters and protecting them from violations of aggression, in response to the repeated accusations made by the coalition of aggression to Sana’a, including threatening international navigation. Through these allegations, the aggression seeks to provide a cover for itself to carry out more aggressive moves in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

These moves were realized by Sana’a on an early level, as it sent a set of messages to the coalition of aggression. The most prominent of which were during the period of the temporary truce that ended, through military parades in Hodeidah and elsewhere, in which Sana’a displayed advanced naval strategic deterrent weapons. These weapons were revealed for the first time in the former military parades during the eighth anniversary of the September 21 revolution in Al-Sab’een Square in the Yemeni capital.

The messages in their entirety through which Sana’a confirmed that it is able to protect its territorial waters and to protect navigation in general on the Red Sea from any threats that might endanger the security of the Red Sea and its territorial waters.

Increasing Threats

The suspicious movements of the countries of the coalition of aggression, which Sana’a had repeatedly warned about, were confirmed by southern media on February 4, when they published in their content an increasing mobilization of the countries of aggression to the Yemeni island of Mayun. The article was published by the southern journalist Adel Al-Hasani in a tweet on his personal account. “The arrival of four military ships belonging to the Saudi-Emirati coalition, which landed forces on Mayun Island in Bab al-Mandab,” he said.

The Associated Press, for its part, had published a report implicitly stating that Mayun Island, which is about 3.5 kilometers from the mainland of Yemen, is under UAE occupation.

“There is work underway on the island overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait since February 2021, including the construction of a new 1.85-kilometre military runway, in addition to military buildings on the island,” the AP said, providing attached satellite images.

On June 1, 2021, the DEBKA website, which is affiliated with the Israeli enemy intelligence, explained that the mysterious base, which was revealed by the media in the same year, is an Emirati military project that includes a base for helicopters “on Mayun Island” that enables the UAE to control the sea lane in the region. In addition, monitoring oil tankers and commercial ships passing from Bab al-Mandab strait.

DEBKA confirmed at the same time that this is not the first time that the UAE has recorded military activity on Mayun Island.

The information revealed by the Israeli “Debka” was confirmed by the Qatari newspaper Al-Arab in 2017, in an extensive report entitled “Mayun Island”, in which it confirmed how the “Mayun Island” turned into an Emirati colony in Yemen.

The Qatari newspaper “Al-Arab” explained that the UAE is seeking to exploit the presence of its forces in Yemen to seize the vital and strategic areas in the country It added, quoting the people and residents of the island: “Vast areas of their land were occupied and turned into closed military areas, controlled by the UAE, which has brought non-Arab groups to Al Jazeera through the Emirati Khalifa Foundation.”

Red Sea security

In the face of all these hostile movements of the countries of the coalition of aggression, observers confirm that the patience of Sana’a will not last long, and what’s coming after the upcoming Sana’a conference on “Security of the Red Sea” will change everything.