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Hindustan Times
24 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
The Houthis and the U.N.'s Ship of Fools
Leave it to the United Nations to make a bad problem worse. Using donor funds from governments and companies, the U.N. bought a Very Large Crude Carrier, an oil tanker called the Yemen, for $55 million in 2023. The goal was noble. Off Yemen's Houthi-controlled Red Sea coast was a Floating Storage and Offloading vessel called the Safer, which was rusted and at risk of sinking. Inaction spelled potential environmental disaster, involving the release into the ocean of four times as much oil as the Exxon Valdez spill and up to $20 billion in cleanup costs. And so the U.N. sent the VLCC Yemen to empty the FSO Safer. Not everything went according to plan. Following the transfer of oil, the Yemen was supposed to be operated by Yemen's state oil company under the advisory oversight of the U.N. Development Program. In practice, the vessel serves as a floating fuel station for the Houthis. On paper, the U.N. transferred ownership to Yemen's internationally recognized government—but control is what matters, and the Houthis have it. As if seizing the transferred oil wasn't enough, the Houthis are now using the Yemen to help Russia evade sanctions. According to a recent Lloyd's List investigation, the Yemen was involved in transferring more than a million barrels of Russian oil from early 2024 to June 2025. The Valente tanker conducted ship-to-ship transfers with the Yemen in March and April last year. Another vessel, the Savitri, made a delivery in October 2024. The first offloading from the Yemen occurred on this June 10, to a Panama-flagged tanker that then sailed to Ras Isa, the Houthi-controlled port where shore storage has since been damaged by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. The Yemen has become the Houthis' primary offshore storage hub and a key element of their war economy. All this is being underwritten by the international community. While the Houthis attack commercial vessels and threaten global shipping, the U.N. is bankrolling their offshore oil logistics by paying $450,000 a month for the Yemen's operations. A vessel designed to prevent one catastrophe is facilitating another—moving Russian oil in defiance of sanctions, sustaining the Houthis' illicit fuel economy, and prolonging a regional war. This isn't the U.N.'s first blunder to benefit the Houthis. Since the group seized Yemen's capital in 2014, the U.N. has kept its headquarters in Houthi-held Sana'a rather than relocating to Aden, the internationally recognized government's interim capital. That choice has allowed the Houthis to detain U.N. personnel, storm U.N. offices and exploit aid shipments. Nearly half of all detained U.N. employees worldwide are held by the Houthis. The 2018 Stockholm Agreement made matters worse. Brokered to avert humanitarian disaster from a military offensive to retake Hodeidah port, the agreement cemented Houthi control of this strategically significant economic hub on Yemen's west coast. The U.N. kept its agreement and funded the port's reconstruction, while the Houthis have refused to abide by their commitments. Houthi control over this region has enabled the group to attack more than 100 commercial vessels since November 2023. If the U.S. is serious about restoring deterrence in the Red Sea and enforcing sanctions on Russia, it must cut off Houthi oil flows. While U.S. options are limited by concerns over potential environmental disaster, the Trump administration is already moving in the right direction by terminating a Biden-era authorization earlier this year that allowed oil transactions through Houthi-controlled areas. The White House should go a step further by designating the Yemen as property in which the Houthis have an interest, exposing any vessels or intermediaries that interact with the ship to secondary sanctions. The tragedy of purchasing the Yemen isn't that the U.N. tried to avert an oil spill. It's that the operation was naively conceived, poorly executed and left open to predictable exploitation. Whether it involves Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthis, good intentions are no substitute for good strategy when confronting Iran's terrorist proxies. Mr. Meizlish is a senior research analyst and Ms. Toomey a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
India.com
24 minutes ago
- India.com
Former US ambassador makes massive statement, explains why Donald Trump imposed 50 percent tariff on India, lack of response led to...
Donald Trump- File image New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has imposed a steep 50 percent tariff on India over its purchases of Russian oil. The new rate will come into effect in 21 days, so on 27 August, according to the executive order. A response from India's foreign ministry said Delhi had already made clear its stance on imports from Russia, and reiterated that the tariff is 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable'. To recall, in May, the Modi government outrightly rejected Trump's so-called role in the ceasefire with Pakistan. Former Indian ambassador and renowned author Vikas Swarup revealed that Trump's displeasure is also linked to India joining the BRICS organisation and refusing to bow to US pressure during trade negotiations. While talking to news agency ANI, the former Indian ambassador said that India–US relations are strategic, whereas US–Pakistan relations are merely a money game. The ambassador also praised India's firm stance. He also warned that Trump's tariffs would lead to a rise in inflation within the United States itself. What Vikas Swarup say: In an interview with ANI, Vikas Swarup, who is a former High Commissioner to Canada, said steps being taken by the US President Donald Trump will eventually lead to ratcheting up inflation in America. 'US called India a 'Tariff King'. But now the 'Tariff King' in the world is the United States because our average tariff is about 15.98%. The US tariff today is 18.4%. So, it is now the 'Tariff King' of the world. But the fact is, tariffs are bringing in money. They will bring in about a 100 billion dollars a year for the US. But the issue is that eventually who will pay for these tariffs? By American consumers. So, what's going to happen is this is going to ratchet up inflation in America, it's going to ratchet up prices in America. I think that's when the chickens will come home to roost,' he said. 'If you cave in to a bully then the bully will increase his demands. Then there will be even more demands. So, I think we have done the right thing. India is too large, too proud a country to become a camp follower of any other country. Our strategic autonomy has been the bedrock of our foreign policy right from the 1950s. I don't think that any Govt in Delhi can compromise on that,' says former diplomat Vikas Swarup on the tariff rift between India and the US,' he added. President Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods plus an unspecified penalty in July, even as there were hopes of an interim India-US trade deal that would have otherwise helped avoid elevated tariffs. A few days later, he imposed another 25 per cent tariff, taking the total to 50 per cent, over India's imports of Russian oil. On Opposition questioning India's Foreign Policy and diplomacy, Vikas Swarup said India should not cave in to any pressure as India's strategic autonomy is non-negotiable'. Here, I would not blame our diplomats at all. I think what has happened is Pakistan, through some intermediaries, has gotten the ear of the US President and that is why, two visits by Asim Munir to Washington, the so-called 'deal' with America on so-called 'oil reserves' of Pakistan. More importantly, I think Pakistan is now trying to position itself as the 'Crypto King' of South Asia and there, through World Liberty Financial in which Trump's family has stakes, Steve Witkoff's family has a stake, through that I think Pakistan has managed to project an image of itself as a reliable partner…All these things have led to Trump having a softer approach towards Pakistan,' he said.
New Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Kremlin says Putin, Trump to hold 'one-on-one' talks in Alaska
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump will hold "one-on-one" talks aimed at settling the Ukraine conflict when they meet for their landmark summit in Alaska on Friday, the Kremlin said. The meeting, set to take place at a US air base outside of Anchorage, marks Putin's first trip to a Western country since his February 2022 assault on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday, is not scheduled to take part. After nearly three-and-a-half years of fighting, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, Trump on Wednesday urged Putin to accept a peace deal or face "very severe consequences". The Kremlin said the talks were due to start at 11:30 am (1930 GMT) Friday. "This conversation will take place in a one-on-one format, naturally with the participation of interpreters," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. "This will be followed by negotiations between the delegations, which will continue over a working breakfast," Ushakov added. He said it was "probably obvious to everyone that the central topic will be the resolution of the Ukraine crisis" although broader issues around peace and security would also be discussed. Putin and Trump will give a joint press conference following their meeting, during which they will "summarise the results of the negotiations", Ushakov said.
