Saudi- Yemen's legitimate leadership

(MENAFN- Arab News) This is with reference to the report 'Yemen meeting back raids seeks safe zones' (May 20). The legitimate Yemeni leadership has expressed full confidence in the ongoing Saudi Arabia-led campaign in Yemen. The Iranian-backed Houthis have no moral grounds to speak on behalf of the Yemenis. They are but a small fraction of even the Zaidi Shiite community of Yemen which is being used by Iran to promote its selfish interests in the Arabian Peninsula. I find Iran's silly actions in Yemen very surprising. How could Tehran think that a tiny group of ragtag militants would succeed in implementing their will on the entire Yemeni population?

It is no secret that Iran just wants to stir unrest in the already restive Yemen and unnecessarily divide it along sectarian lines. Interestingly Iran's religious establishment had always maintained a distance with Yemen's Zaidi community considering them outsiders due to their ideological proximity to the Sunnis. Suddenly Iran started using the Shiite card. This hypocrisy should be exposed. Representatives of the Zaidi community should be brought to the fore so as to inform the world about the truth behind Iranian propaganda.

Unfortunately the mainstream western media does not know the political dynamics of the region and it continuously portrays it as some kind of a sectarian conflict thus further aggravating the situation and creating a wrong impression in the minds of the people across the world. The Houthi problem in Yemen is a result of Iran's lust for expanding its ideological and geographical influence. People tend to forget that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries had never hesitated in helping out Yemen during the rule of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh who is also a Zaidi Shiite. It is Iran which stokes sectarian hatred not the Arab countries. Tehran is behind the current turmoil in Iraq. All Muslim countries should boycott Iran if it continues with its divisive policies. Tariq Ahmed Khan Jeddah