Yemen-BRICS Cooperation Aims to Disrupt Unipolar World, Houthi Official Says

The Houthi movement, which controls large parts of northern and western Yemen, vowed in November 2023 to attack any ships in the Red Sea linked to Israel until Tel Aviv halts its military actions in the Gaza Strip.

Yemen is strengthening cooperation with Russia and China in order to weaken Western countries and disrupt the unipolar world concept, Ali al-Qhoom, Yemeni Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement’s senior official, has tweeted.

"There is a constant interaction and development of Yemen’s relations with Russia, China and [other] BRICS members, as well as an exchange of knowledge and experience in various areas," al-Qhoom pointed out.

The goal is to "drown the US, the UK and the West in the mire [the crisis] around the Red Sea so that they can be bogged down, weaken and become unable to maintain the unipolarity," the official added.

"There is a change in the international climate and the balance of powers between the East and the West, especially in light of Western encroachment against Russia, who drowned the West in the Ukraine crisis and weakened its alliances with China, as well as with other countries of the East and BRICS member states," according to al-Qhoom.

In November 2023, the Houthis kicked off a months-long maritime campaign of ship hijackings, drone strikes and missile launches in solidarity with residents of the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s ground assault on the besieged Palestinian territory.

The US responded by announcing the formation of a naval "coalition of the willing" against Houthi fighters in December, and began bombing Yemen together with Britain in January. The Houthis retaliated by barring all commercial and warships of UK and American "losers" from operating in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, repeatedly firing at Western warships deployed in waters adjacent to Yemen.

BRICS is an economic alliance formed in 2009 by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. South Africa joined shortly thereafter, and Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates joined in 2023.