Latest news with #Al-Eryani
Al Sahwa
5 days ago
- Business
- Al Sahwa
Shocking figures and serious crimes: A decade of systemized Houthi destruction of the national economy
In a significant press statement, Muammar al-Eryani, Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, revealed to the Yemeni people a nearly comprehensive vision of the state of the national economy. This came more than ten years after the racist, terrorist Houthi militia coup, which targeted the state, its institutions, and the free will of the people. The minister presented horrific figures revealing the shocking extent of the damage inflicted on the economy as a result of the systemized Houthi practices. Al-Eryani said in a press statement published by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba) on Wednesday that "the terrorist Houthi militia, which receives support from the Iranian regime, has embezzled more than $103 billion of the Yemeni people's money and resources since its coup in September 2014, turning its leaders into 'war profiteers', while millions of Yemenis in areas under their control suffer from tragic humanitarian conditions." Al-Eryani explained that Houthi leaders have amassed vast fortunes through looting and corruption, purchasing luxurious palaces and villas in the capital, Sana'a, and the governorates of Saada, Amran, and Dhamar, in addition to building towers and fake companies, and pumping large investments into Iran and Lebanon, while leaving millions of citizens prey to hunger and extreme poverty. Al-Eryani pointed out that the militia leaders have transformed from "highway robbers" to those controlling the country's most important economic sectors. Militia leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, his relatives, and close associates such as Muhammad Abdul Salam, have seized control of oil and gas companies and the telecommunications sector. Muhammad Ali al-Houthi, meanwhile, has taken over the property of citizens through the so-called "judicial guardian," diverting it to private projects. Mahdi al-Mashat and his associates have also seized real estate and land in strategic areas in Sana'a. Ahmed Hamed has transformed the presidential office into a corruption empire that controls contracts and tenders. He pointed out that the militia has taken over the oil, gas, and telecommunications trade, eliminated the private sector, seized humanitarian aid, and imposed taxes and fees on all economic activities, from major merchants to street vendors. The Yemeni minister explained that the Houthi group, despite its enormous wealth, refuses to pay the salaries of state employees in the areas it controls. The bill for these salaries is estimated at 25 billion riyals per month ($50 million), or nearly $600 million annually. This confirms that the group's behavior represents an organized strategy to impoverish, starve, and humiliate the Yemeni people. He emphasized that the militia has not spent these billions over ten years on wages, services, or raising citizens' living standards, but rather invested them in establishing investments and commercial companies in the oil fields, real estate, and import and export. The goal was to tighten its grip on the private sector and subjugate it, and to increase the wealth of its leaders and inflate their assets, both inside and outside the country. This is in addition to providing financial support to the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian armed groups in the region. A Decade of Serious Violations: For many years, the Houthi militia has been exerting stifling pressure on the Yemeni economy using every available means. Meanwhile, government reform efforts have been in vain, as the Houthis have obstructed all attempts to revive the economy. In its first steps, embodying the Houthis' rebel gang's dominance and demonstrating its criminal and racist nature after it invaded Sana'a in September 2014, the militia looted $5 billion from the central bank's reserves. In addition, it seized a $2 billion Saudi deposit intended to stabilize the Yemeni currency. It then raided the public treasury, pocketing 400 billion Yemeni riyals of it. It also seized treasury and sovereign bonds, along with their expected interest, totaling over five trillion Yemeni riyals, equivalent to approximately nine billion US dollars. Thus, the process of seizing funds and destroying the national economy began, a process that continues to this day. Over the years of the coup and war, the Houthi militia has not ceased committing economic crimes, which can be described as organized looting and illicit enrichment. These actions call for international accountability and the prosecution of the terrorist militia's leaders before competent international courts. This also requires designating the Houthis as a terrorist group, as they use looted funds to finance terrorism and prolong the suffering of the Yemeni people, according to Al-Eryani's statements last month. Countless crimes: Economic expert Wahid al-Fowdai believes that counting the Houthis' actions since seizing power is extremely difficult. He explains that it is not limited to traditional corrupt practices, but rather amounts to a systematic destruction of the state's economic and financial foundations. In a statement to al-Fowdai draws attention to the Houthi militia's plunder of state revenues in the areas it controls, including taxes, customs, and oil and gas revenues, diverting them to the war effort instead of directing them to public spending. Al-Fawdai lists the most prominent criminal acts committed by the Houthi militia against the national economy and its deliberate sabotage, most notably: seizing reserve funds and implementing counterproductive policies, including preventing the circulation of the new issue of the local currency, to imposing a financial siege on the areas subject to the legitimacy and fueling monetary fragmentation between the two regions, the areas of legitimacy and the areas of the Houthis, in addition to issuing illegal money and the resulting damages. He indicates that the Houthi militia has deliberately undermined the financial system, forcing banks not to relocate their main offices to Aden. The group has also resorted to repressive methods of central Houthi control and imposed virtual restrictions on financial transfers, leading to a dangerous monetary divide. Houthi corruption and seizure of public and private funds: In addition to corruption, theft, and systemized sabotage of government economic institutions, economic expert Wahid al-Fawdai points out that the Houthi militia has seized private sector funds and property, imposed illegal taxes, obstructed trade through multiple customs procedures, and seized the assets of its political opponents through its judicial apparatus. He spoke about the catastrophe caused by the Houthi militia through its politicization of the state's economic institutions and its exploitation of them to serve the de facto authority, weakening the economy's ability to operate according to market standards. Al-Fawdai explained that the Houthi militia has managed the economy with a war mentality, feeding the black market with oil derivatives and currency, in addition to destroying confidence in the formal banking sector. The role of the government and the international community: Regarding the duties imposed on the legitimate authorities, represented by the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni government, in light of the crimes committed by the Houthi militia against the national economy, the accompanying destruction of national foundations and resources, in addition to the rampant corruption, al-Fawdai stated that the desired role of the legitimate authorities is to regain control over the state's sovereign resources, achieve unification of monetary policies, establish a strong financial oversight system, and activate unified official channels for state revenues. The economic expert stressed the need to activate transparency and accountability mechanisms, begin implementing an economic reconstruction plan, and halt the ongoing financial deterioration. This should also include effective diplomatic efforts to stem the flow of funds to the Houthi, both domestically and internationally. In his recent statements, Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar al-Eryani called on the international community and the United Nations to take a firm stance that goes beyond mere verbal condemnation. This includes drying up the militia's sources of funding, freezing its assets and those of its leaders abroad, pursuing its financial networks and commercial companies, and tightening controls on the flow of funds through UN and international organizations. This ensures that these organizations are deprived of any resources and that they are directed towards providing real support to Yemenis and alleviating the worsening humanitarian crisis.
Al Sahwa
5 days ago
- Business
- Al Sahwa
Houthi Militia's Systematic Destruction of Yemen's Economy Exposed
Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Muammar al-Eryani, has revealed shocking figures on the economic impact of the Houthi militia's systematic practices since its coup in 2014. According to Al-Eryani, the militia has looted over $103 billion of the Yemeni people's money and resources, with its leaders accumulating enormous wealth from looting and corruption. The Houthi leaders have used their illicit wealth to buy palaces, villas, and build towers, while millions of Yemenis live in catastrophic humanitarian conditions. The militia has monopolized the oil, gas, and telecommunications trade, swept away the private sector, and imposed taxes and tributes on all economic activities. Al-Eryani stressed that the Houthi militia's refusal to pay state employees' salaries, despite its huge resources, confirms its systematic policy to impoverish, starve, and humiliate Yemenis. The minister emphasized that the militia's actions are aimed at tightening control over the private sector, enriching its leaders, and providing financial support to Iranian-backed militias in the region.
Yemen Online
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Yemen Online
Yemeni Gov't Warns Iran Is Transferring Military Industry to Houthi-Controlled Areas
The internationally recognized Yemeni government has issued a stark warning that Iran is relocating parts of its military industrial program to areas under the control of the Houthi militia in northern Yemen, raising alarms over regional security and maritime safety. In a statement released Thursday, Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said recent missile strikes by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) revealed operational similarities with Houthi attacks, exposing what he described as a 'direct Iranian role' in managing military operations from within Yemen. Al-Eryani noted that the ballistic and hypersonic missiles, as well as suicide drones used by the IRGC, mirror the weaponry deployed by the Houthis since late 2023 in attacks on neighboring countries and international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab, and Gulf of Aden. He warned that Iran appears to be establishing missile and drone production facilities in the provinces of Saada, Hajjah, and rural areas around Sana'a, following increased international pressure on its domestic weapons programs and recent strikes on Iranian infrastructure. The minister called on the international community to take the threat seriously, cautioning that Iran's actions could turn Yemen into a forward operating base for prohibited weapons programs, jeopardizing regional stability and obstructing any prospects for a political resolution. Al-Eryani urged a shift from a policy of containment to one of firm confrontation against what he described as 'compound threats' posed by Iran and its regional proxies, particularly the Houthis.
Yemen Online
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yemen Online
Houthi militia trying to mislead Yemeni people over public servant retirees' salary payments
The Iran-backed Houthi militia is trying to mislead Yemenis about payments of public servant retirees' salaries, despite their decision to suspend them, starting with its coup against the state, looting public treasury reserves, and aborting all government initiatives to pay them regularly, Yemen's Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Moammar Al-Eryani said. He added that the government prioritizes payment of salaries, especially in areas under Houthis control and strives to find practical solutions as it considers it a humanitarian priority and a public responsibility, and has exerted great efforts, which clashed with the Houthi militia in many instances. 'In 2019, in order to preserve public servants and regularity of work of vital services, the government paid salaries of more than 120,000 civil servants and retirees in Houthi-controlled areas, including the health sector, and 50 percent of higher education employees, universities in Hodeidah,' he said in a series of tweets. Al-Eryani said the government also led negotiations with the international community to allocate part of the humanitarian aid to a fund that covers the gap, especially in the education sector. 'In January 2020, the Houthi militia imposed a monetary split by preventing circulation of currency issued by the head office of the Central Bank of Yemen in the interim capital, Aden, which disrupted payment of salaries by the government in militia controllled areas, after being circulated for a whole year,' he added. 'In return, the Houthi militia doubled taxes, customs and zakat on citizens and the private sector, profiting from the black market for oil derivatives, as an example, according to an expert group report, (while) value of tax and other revenues of the Houthis in 2019 amounted to more than $1.8 billion,' he also said. As independent estimates indicate, the sums obtained by the Houthi militia during the year 2020 exceeded $4 billion, amounts equal to several times the bill for the salaries of state employees and retirees in areas under their control, Al-Eryani said. 'Since the truce in April 2022, a doubled number of oil derivatives ships arrived at Hodeidah port, with tax and customs revenues exceeding 213 billion Yemeni riyals ($851 million), looted by the Houthis and hindered discussions to establish disbursing them to cover part of civil servants salaries and retirees in its areas,' he said. The UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg proposed paying salaries of civil servants in areas controlled by the Houthis, but the militia rejected the proposal, and demanded payment of the 2014 budget, which included salaries of military and security militia members who replaced state staff, he noted. 'The Houthi militia claims that before the war, oil revenues represented 70 percent of the budget, ignoring that these revenues declined by 75 percent due to the war it imposed, and caused the departure of companies and foreign investments, and halted oil production, exploration, and exporting liquefied natural gas.' While the state's oil revenues in 2014 exceeded $5 billion, these revenues declined to nearly $1 billion, he said, adding that the government is keen to address this issue according to controls that ensure sustainable salaries and the treatment of revenues, including Hodiedah ports and tax revenues in Houthi areas, and ensuring a clear role for the international community to fund salary deficits and address the monetary split imposed by the Houthis.
Al Sahwa
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Sahwa
Yemeni Minister Criticizes UN Envoy's Efforts as Attempt to Save Houthi Militia
Yemeni Information Minister Moammer Al-Eryani has criticized the UN envoy's efforts to revive peace talks, saying they are an attempt to save the Houthi militia from its current weak position. Al-Eryani stated that the Houthis do not believe in dialogue and only use negotiations to gain time and regroup, which poses a threat to regional security. He warned that any attempt to reintegrate the Houthis into a political process would enable cross-border terrorism and undermine regional and international security. The minister urged the Yemeni people and international community not to be deceived by the Houthis' peaceful rhetoric, which he described as a cover for their extremist agenda. He emphasized that past ceasefires and peace initiatives were followed by increased violence and violations, and that the Houthis' history shows they cannot be trusted to uphold agreements. Al-Eryani called for a careful reading of history and learning from past experiences to avoid repeating mistakes that would lead to more bloodshed, destruction, and threats to regional and international security.
