Yemeni Leader’s “Airport for Airport” Equation Forces U.S. and Saudi Arabia to Reconsider Actions
The strategic equation introduced by Sayyid Abdulmalik Badruddin Al-Houthi, “airport for airport, bank for bank, port for port,” has effectively countered the aggressive measures the American enemy attempted to impose on the Yemeni people through its Saudi proxies. These measures were intended as punishment for Yemen’s support of the Palestinian cause and as a means to pressure and starve Yemen into weakening its official and popular stance supporting Gaza militarily, politically, and publicly in their legendary battle against the occupying entity backed by America and the West.
The Saudi enemy, under American pressure, implemented a series of economic measures as punishment for Yemen’s stance. These included announcing the relocation of the headquarters of six commercial banks from the capital, Sana’a, to the occupied province of Aden, and the complete closure of Sana’a International Airport, which had been open only for six weekly flights to Jordan for transporting patients since the truce was declared over two years ago.
Mohammed Abdulsalam, head of the national delegation, announced via his account on the platform “X” that an agreement had been reached between Yemen and Saudi Arabia under the auspices of the United Nations. This agreement includes canceling hostile decisions against Yemeni banks and halting any similar future decisions. Additionally, Yemenia Airways will resume flights between Sana’a and Jordan, increasing to three daily flights, and will establish new direct flight routes to India and Egypt. Technical and administrative meetings will be held to discuss the issues of Yemenia Airways and all humanitarian and economic matters.
These four points are all in response to the demands of the revolutionary leader to stop targeting Yemen’s economic sector, especially banks and financial institutions, and to cease obstructing flights from Sana’a airport under any pretext.
The Airport for Airport Equation:
In his speech last Thursday, the revolutionary leader warned the Saudi regime: “We, as the Yemeni people, operate from a just cause and a rightful stance, recognizing that Saudi involvement serves Israel and obeys America. If Saudi Arabia is willing to sacrifice its future, incur tremendous losses, and fail in its economic plans for the sake of Israel and America, then there is no point in the 2030 plans or the plans to make Riyadh airport one of the largest in the world.” This statement reinforced the equation that targeting the Yemeni economy would be met with a response against the Saudi economy – bank for bank, airport for airport. This was reflected in the four points outlined in yesterday’s agreement.
Despite Saudi attempts to distance itself from these actions and to portray the decisions as coming from the Riyadh-based “hotel government” it formed, even the mercenaries did not accept this narrative. Leaders affiliated with the Riyadh mercenary government launched a media campaign claiming that the reversal of these measures was prepared and directed by their Saudi leaders as part of an American strategy to “punish Yemen”.
The agreement announcement faced significant backlash from Yemeni mercenaries inside the country, who questioned with whom the negotiations were conducted and how the agreement came about, noting that the “hotel government” had no representation or involvement. They considered the cancellation of the decisions to be entirely at the Saudi’s behest, just as the initial decisions were.
The American decisions posed a serious threat to Yemen’s economic and humanitarian reality. However, the firm intervention and ethical, clear, and public stance of the revolutionary leader, Sayyid Abdulmalik Badruddin Al-Houthi, stating that the Yemeni people would not stand idly by in the face of this targeting, forced the Saudi regime and its American backers to reconsider the expected consequences of continuing to target the Yemeni people. Observers viewed this as a wise, swift, and firm handling of the crisis by the revolutionary leader, leading to the resolution of a new crisis without the need for military action or field options.
The Yemeni public in various regions saw the agreement as a new Yemeni victory against Saudi Arabia, a slap in America’s face, and a goal achieved for Sana’a thanks to wise leadership and popular unity and responsiveness. Yemenis are eagerly watching Saudi Arabia’s seriousness in implementing the agreement’s terms, addressing the imbalances caused by the decisions, and swiftly reopening Sana’a airport according to the new agreement. They view Saudi compliance as a positive indicator that could lead to progress in solving the Saudi-American aggression problem against Yemen.
Conversely, any Saudi evasion or reneging on the agreement is seen as a dangerous gamble that could reignite escalation. Undoubtedly, the equation of bank for bank, airport for airport, and port for port remains in place, and it would not be difficult to take even severe measures to urge the Saudi regime to cease its economic and humanitarian targeting of Yemen.