TEHRAN- The United States appears to be pursuing a new policy in Yemen by occupying the country’s natural resources.

This is what the illegal visit of the commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces in the U.S. Central Command to the Yemeni governorates of Al-Mahra and Hadhramaut on March 2 strongly suggests.

Yemen has a sufficient amount of oil and natural gas resources for both domestic demand and exports.

And this is something the U.S. and its Western allies are in dire need of getting their hands on amid shortages in the wake of the Ukraine war.

In his latest speech a few days ago, the leader of Yemen’s ruling Ansarallah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, revealed that Washington had established military bases in the provinces of Hadhramaut and al-Mahra in eastern Yemen.

He added that the commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, accompanied by an American diplomat, landed at the headquarters of the illegal U.S.-Saudi military coalition base in al-Mahra.

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper and the U.S. ambassador to the Saudi-led puppet government in southern Aden travelled to the city of al-Ghaydah in Mahra governorate, in a flagrant violation of Yemen’s sovereignty.

According to reports citing well-informed sources, Cooper and the U.S. official Stephen Fagin were accompanied by a delegation of top U.S. military officials at al-Ghaydah airport, which has been turned into a military base for American, British and Israeli forces on the Arabian Sea.

They also held talks with the pro-U.S.-Saudi coalition and self-proclaimed governor Mohammed bin Yasser to discuss “maritime issues”.

Since 2018, the airport has been closed to the people of Mahra and has been occupied by the so-called “Commander of the Coast Guard” with the U.S.-Saudi coalition that has been indiscriminately bombing Yemen since March 2015.

The sources pointed out that the U.S. military visit came after a meeting held by bin Yasser with the U.S. official in the Saudi capital Riyadh last January, in a bid to carry out new missions for the U.S. forces occupying al-Ghaydah airport, under the pretext of “combating smuggling” and “confronting the potential dangers of terrorism.”

The eastern oil-rich Yemeni provinces of Mahra, Hadramout, Shabwa and Marib have recently become the focus of the ambitions of the occupying countries of the U.S., UK and France, with the aim of controlling the sources of oil and gas.

U.S. and European countries intensified their movements in the eastern provinces of Yemen after the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine last year, and have shown great interest in these regions.

The latest developments come as the West faces oil and gas shortages in the wake of its sanctions on the Russian energy sector following the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

Saudi media have confirmed from sources in the U.S. Department of Defense that Washington has retained two CIA military bases in areas under the control of pro-U.S.-Saudi coalition government, including in the city of Mukalla in Hadhramaut governorate.

While the West is claiming that its presence in the region is aimed to deepen bilateral and multilateral maritime cooperation, the evidence on the ground proves quite the opposite.

Yemen considers the presence of foreign forces on its territory as an occupation, and this leads to the question of the reason behind this exceptional concentration of foreign military bases in the country.

Are we are facing a scenario similar to what is happening in northeastern Syria, where U.S. has been plundering the country’s oil to the tune of billions of dollars?

Al-Houthi says the U.S. has been working actively to end the talks between Saudi Arabia and Yemen in Oman intended to end the war.

"The U.S. seeks to obstruct the Omani efforts, which is to distance the coalition from any agreement or understanding, and this is totally unacceptable," he said.

Experts say this makes sense as reaching a comprehensive political settlement means an end to the war. And ending the war would require the exit of all foreign forces led by the American and British militaries from the eastern and southern Yemeni coasts.  For this reason and other reasons as well, the U.S. and the UK are working to impede the talks and obstruct reaching any political settlement.

Likewise, Yemen’s geographical location is one of the most important in the West Asian region. It has a large front on the Red Sea and has a large gateway to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea that extends to other regions. The Gulf is what America needs to build military bases and serve its other sinister goals.

The nature of the relations between the western-occupied regions in Yemen, and between Saudi Arabia and the UAE is important as well. The main point here is that the puppet authority in Yemen does not care about the issue of sovereignty.

If the authority put in place by the U.S. and its regional allies had an independent voice, then there would be no occupation, military and naval bases, blockade or plans to seize the country’s natural resources. 

If anything, the puppet government is contributing to the violation of Yemen’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Analysts have said that the foreign military bases, which have been listed by the leaders of Ansarallah as areas of occupation, will possibly be targeted to create realistic equations.

Others agree that after showing impressive steadfastness in the face of eight years of war, it would be natural for the Yemeni forces to have the ability to target foreign military bases as has been reflected over the years.

With the U.S. putting the brakes on talks in Oman, Sana’a says its military capabilities are growing, and all branches of the armed forces are prepared for the next stage that could open the door to "the option of a broad military operation."

All of U.S. President Joe Biden’s boasting about ending support for Saudi military operations in Yemen, and the movement in the U.S. Congress that pushed for an end to military aid to Riyadh has now turned out to be inaccurate, and if anything it was just an effort to deflect the growing global condemnation.

What is happening now in al-Mahra and Hadramout is clear evidence of the ongoing interest of the U.S. in not only its military presence but also the expansion of it, one year after the Ukraine war.  

Analysts have pointed out that Saudi Arabia has practically taken full control of al-Mahra in cooperation with the U.S. and local militias, and there are many reports citing Israeli naval cooperation as well, in addition to the U.S. cooperation with the two parties.
Will Yemen turn into Syria? Time will tell.

But judging by the past few years, Yemeni forces have proved capable of confronting threats and turning their chants and slogans into extraordinary retaliatory operations.

“The level of our military capabilities has evolved compared to the beginning of the aggression” al-Houthi warned.

"If we look at the situation today compared to the beginning of the aggression, and to previous years, there is a major difference in the level of Yemeni military capabilities," the leader of the Ansarallah movement explained.