Statement
Statement summary
Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, President of Yemen, said eight decades ago the UN pledged that “no people would be left alone to face dictatorship or chaos or famine without the backing of the international community”. The Yemeni people must ask if these values exist or not. His country is held hostage by the “Iranian regime’s expansionist schemes and its militias that use hunger as a weapon, religion as a tool and maritime passages as a means of blackmail,” he said. Statements labelling the Houthis as a terrorist organization are not enough. The international community must act.
“Yemen today is not simply a domestic crisis — rather, it is a test of the credibility of this Organization,” he stressed, highlighting the humanitarian crises confronting the Yemeni people. Houthi militias are a terrorist organization “armed to the teeth with an advanced Iranian arsenal”, including missiles, mines, drones and banned weapons. He detailed their activities to turn Yemen into “a laboratory to experiment with the weapons of its supporters”, cautioning against leniency and noting that their plan is to expand Iranian influence in the region.
Current policies of containment have only given the Houthis time and resources to grow. The UN is unable to protect its own staff in Sana’a and the world must reconsider its stance on the Yemeni situation. The Leadership Council, his Government, represents international legitimacy, democracy and diversity. The Houthis and their supporters, represent a sectarian, fascist organization opposed to human rights and practises cross-border terrorism. Yemen is ready to embrace peace, even with painful concessions. “It has become necessary to move collectively and firmly to impose peace,” he said.
He said it is time to form an international coalition to restore the security of his country and liberate it from the “clutches” of all terrorist groups. International law is not simply a myth, he said, calling Yemen and Gaza “the moral testing ground” of this Organization. They are the places where “the might of right is still able to confront the right of might”. He voiced appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s support for his country, and for Palestine — a “wound that continues to bleed”, he said, voicing full support for the Palestinian Authority and calling on Member States that have not yet done so to recognize Palestine as a State.
Yemen’s President Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi on Thursday urged the international community to move beyond statements, to “firm international action” against Houthi separatists, saying the crisis provoked by the militants’ international aggression now threatens regional and global security.
*****
Read also the UN News story in Urdu about the declaration made by the President of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen at the General Debate.
*****
Since 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in conflict between the internationally recognised government and Houthi militants (formally known as the Ansar Allah movement). A fragile truce brokered in 2022 has helped reduce the fighting but violations are ongoing.
Millions have been displaced across the country – already one of the poorest in the Middle East – while public services and infrastructure have collapsed.
Humanitarian workers have also been targeted by the Houthis – who control large swathes of the country including the capital – with dozens of UN staff detained by the group and agency offices raided.
“The Houthi militias are no longer a rebel group in a remote area,” President Al-Alimi told the General Assembly’s annual debate.
International terror group'
“Rather, they are [an] international terrorist organization armed to the teeth with an advanced Iranian arsenal, including ballistic missiles and drones, booby-trapped boats and sea mines, and missiles and other qualitative weapons that are internationally banned.”
Mr. Al-Alimi – who heads Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council – said that after more than a decade of war, Yemenis are living through “one of the greatest humanitarian crises” while also facing “security threats that transcend our borders and spread to the region and the entire world.”
He accused the Houthis of using “hunger as a weapon, religion as a tool and maritime passages as a means of blackmail,” warning that the Red Sea and international shipping lanes risk becoming permanent prey to terrorism.
He dismissed years of international containment efforts as ineffective.
“The policy of conflict management by offering more incentives has only brought more disaster and destruction,” he said.
He said the UN has been “unable to protect its own staff, who were kidnaped in Sanaa, unable to protect the oil installations and the commercial ships.”
Call for effective action
The Yemeni leader called for an “effective international coalition to restore security, stability and a coalition that would rebuild the institutions of the State and would liberate the country from the clutches of the militias and all forms of terrorist groups.”
Yemen’s crisis is a test of international credibility, he stressed.
“What we ask from you are not new statements, but international action – firm international action – to support the legitimate government as a trusted partner on the ground.”
He reaffirmed Yemen’s support for the Palestinian cause, welcomed growing international recognition of a Palestinian State, and expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for their sustained support for his country.
“Yemen and Gaza...are the moral testing ground of this [United Nations]. They are the place where we can definitely confirm that the might of right is still able to confront the right of might.”
Full statement
Read the full statement, in PDF format.
Photo
Previous sessions
Access the statements from previous sessions.