IRAN ‘STOKING THE FLAMES OF WAR’ SAYS US OFFICIAL
▶ UAE security forum on Yemen looks beyond current peace talks to bringing stability back to war-torn country
Iran does not appear interested in a long-term peace settlement in Yemen, a US State Department official told The National.
Timothy Lenderking, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs, yesterday addressed the third UAE Security Forum at New York University Abu Dhabi, where officials and policymakers met to address the challenges of peace and reconstruction in Yemen.
Iran has been “keeping the flames [of war] stoked and the Saudis bogged down in the conflict” for years, Mr Lenderking said.
Iran is known to have played a key role in strengthening Yemen’s rebel movement by sending advanced weapons and military advisers. Iran “enables the Houthis to menace the Saudi border ... and their territorial integrity,” Mr Lenderking told The National.
His comments came as a Yemeni government delegation and Houthi rebels met face-toface for the first time at peace talks in Sweden this weekend.
To be seen shaking hands is important, Mr Lenderking said, “but even more important is the engagement”.
“Let’s not overestimate the chances of a breakthrough, but there has been good progress,” he said.
The conference in Abu Dhabi focused on Yemen’s postwar future, in particular stabilisation, reconstruction and development.
But any move towards elections should be taken cautiously, said the head of Yemen’s Justice and Building Party.
“We’ve seen how rushing into elections throws society back into conflict,” Mohammed Abulahoum said. Instead, the country needs to re-establish security and prioritise grass-roots reconstruction projects, Mr Abulahoum said. “We can’t focus on the mega projects and not
The challenge right now is to learn from the [past] experiences ... We never focused on the problems people had MOHAMMED ABULAHOUM Yemeni politician
those that will ... have an impact on the average citizens.”
Mr Abulahoum, a leading politician and social figure in Yemen, arrived in Abu Dhabi directly from Stockholm, where he was participating in the talks.
The Yemeni government needed to shoulder some responsibility for the country’s situation and for allowing the Houthi rebellion to grow in strength, he said.
“The challenge right now is to learn from the [past] experiences ... when everybody was busy in the national dialogue, talking about the constitution, we never focused on the problems that people had,” he said, referring to the state of the country before its descent into civil war. “Even the money that donors committed to Yemen – about $8 billion [Dh29.4bn] – was not absorbed or allocated to serious projects.”
Even as this week’s peace talks offer a glimmer of optimism that Yemen’s warring factions might agree to a cessation of hostilities, the scale of reconstruction efforts is an intimidating prospect for the government and humanitarian agencies.
The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, where as many as 20 million people are food insecure. The UN refugee agency said on Friday there were nearly 1,500 civilian casualties between August and October.
Lise Grande, the UN Resident Co-ordinator in Yemen, said the UN was focusing on a new approach to stabilisation.
“We have in many countries tried to stabilise and we have not done it as effectively as people expect us to,” Ms Grande said during the forum.
The UN intends to focus on rapid and simple stabilisation she said, prioritising worst affected areas and projects certain to have a positive effect.