The Iranian-backed Houthi militias have intensified their economic war against Yemenis in a way that threatens to deepen the human tragedy and livelihood distress in this beleaguered country, and the Houthi militias have begun what looks like a “battle to break a bone” to destroy Yemen’s economy.

Multiple war

According to Yemeni analyst Abdul Hafiz Nahari, the Houthi terrorist militia has been waging a multifaceted war against the Yemeni people since it seized power by force and occupied Sanaa in 2014. They differ from one stage to another according to their interests, the most important of which is their refusal to deal with the new form of local currency until they launch a war of disruption and destruction of the national economy, currency speculation, laundering and smuggling money, and turning the country into black markets to enrich their militia leadership and finance their war on Yemen and its neighboring countries.

It also includes halting all reform moves by the Houthi militias against the government, fighting currency stabilization measures, refusing to hand over hard currency money remittances to areas under their control, and taking disastrous decisions on the future of the banking sector, including banning bank interest rates and trading on a common Islamic stock market with Iran despite boycotts internationally and regionally, carrying out destructive attacks on oil ships and ports, disrupting oil exports for the second year, and undermining the legitimacy of two-thirds of its general budget, as well as attempting to blackmail the coalition by paying the salaries of all its fighting militias from oil revenues as a condition for halting their sabotage attacks on the oil export terminal and allowing them to re-export oil.

Economic disasters

The effects of the Houthi militia’s practices on the Yemeni economy are devastating in the short and long term, he said, and their damage affects all aspects of life in different areas of Yemen. It is impossible to address them without a firm international stance against the militias and the provision of financial support by the international community through economic assistance to Yemen and the provision of a national defense system to protect ports and secure oil production companies, he said.