With two years having passed since the signing of the UN-brokered Stockholm Agreement, popular pressure in Yemen is building for the liberation of the key port city of Hodeidah from the grip of Houthi militias.
The implementation of the deal, which included a framework for rehabilitating and managing the Hodeidah port complex and a commitment to use revenues from it to pay public salaries, has faltered before Houthi escalation.
Houthis have been mounting a fierce assault campaign in the governorates of Marib, Taiz and al-Jawf.
Yemeni presidential advisor and former foreign minister Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi has warned that any agreement with Iran-backed Houthi militias could undermine military victories achieved against the group.
He added that a deal would give Houthis a political win, legitimize their existence and prolong the war.
Houthis must not be rewarded for their crimes and attacks against Marib, said Al-Mekhlafi, reiterating his admonishment of attacks staged by the Iran-aligned militia against the oil-rich governorate.
“Ceasing attacks on Marib must not be presented as a Houthi concession,” noted Al-Mekhlafi.
He also raised the alarm on repeating the “Stockholm catastrophe.”
“The joint declaration being amended and presented to Houthis today stems from the same humanitarian argument made in the Stockholm Agreement, which has already failed to achieve peace and improve humanitarian conditions,” tweeted Al-Mekhlafi.
The former top diplomat said that Houthis will be forced towards peace by the steadfastness of Yemeni heroes and the Saudi-led Arab Coalition fighting to defeat the Iranian agenda in the war-torn country.
He also disputed striking any deals that reward Houthi aggression, saying they will invite Houthis to commit further crimes and terrorism.
“Houthis must not be given another chance to play on contradictions at the UN,” political analyst Abdallah Ismail told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Ismail urged the Yemeni internationally recognized government to step outside international pressure and move forward with restoring power to legitimate state institutions.
The analyst explained that the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement has reached a stalemate and that popular will for the government to move forward with a decisive battle to free Hodeidah is growing.
