Prevention:
Maritime security represents one of the most important challenges facing the international community, and requires protection a lot of effort, and more joint work.Marine security is linked to a wide range of economic and strategic issues, as well as those related to humanitarian and public safety and security, biological security, and many other things.We may imagine that if one of the strategic waterways that food will be closed, what will the situation in many countries will lead to?
Therefore, this study aims to shed light on a very vital issue related to the strategic importance of the corridors and maritime harassment adjacent to the "Yemen Republic", with the focus of the Bab al -Mandab strait in particular, and what distinguishes the latter from the maximum economic and commercial importance, as well as its role in the movement of navigation and energy supplies The various, as well as the study aims to analyze the impact of the strait activity with the escalation of the current security threats, especially those related to the war in Yemen and around Yemen as a location and geography, and the importance of Arab cooperation and solidarity in light of the invitation of the President of the Southern Transitional Council, the Supreme Commander of the Southern Armed Forces, Major General Aidroos Al -Zubaidi, in the context of his speech to my Arab and Arab channels The event on January 20, 2022 AD in this regard.
The strategic importance of waterways:
The colonial countries seek and seek to control the strategic outlets, such as the straits and channels, as the presence in them secures the control of vital joints that are increasing day by day in light of economic globalization and the huge and huge trade exchange between the countries of the world, including goods, goods and services. Instead of being a way for international cooperation, it has become a factor for pressure and causing crises, especially after the enormous discoveries of energy materials in the world and everyone seeks to obtain them, as talking about how to secure ways to deliver them, especially if they would cross a vital dandruff fall under the influence Economic opponent. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the survival of the island of Gibraltar - despite its autonomy in 1981 - under British sovereignty, which it disputes with Spain, which is also demanding and sovereignty over it, despite the thousands of kilometers separating this island and the Great Britain, where these are considered to be The point is one of the most vibrant points, and Britain makes the Holding Power to this strait.
Perhaps the most prominent wars on the straits, the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956 AD after the national President Gamal Abdel Nasser was nationalized to the Suez Canal, as then British Prime Minister Anthony Eden said, “Abdel Nasser has become applied to our brochure.And it is better for the British Empire to collapse than to continue to suffer slow deaths. ”(1)
The importance of these corridors has emerged more vibrant and dangerous during the 1973 war and the Gulf wars and finally the continuous Yemen war since 2015 AD until now.
The peculiarity of the Middle East region:
Despite the diversity of maritime threats and conflicts between many countries of the world, the Middle East has a specificity related to its importance within the framework of international policies, and the nature of the conflicts and tensions that sweep it, whether between their countries or within many of them, as well as the axes and marine roads it overlooks all the points of concentration world Trade. Four passages and brightness are the most important globally in our Arab region, the Bab al -Mandab Strait, the Suez Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Strait of Hormuz. The region has recently witnessed many developments, its essence has been linked to Iran's escalation policies and what it has formed, and is still the threats of the security and stability of the region and the world.
The Strait of Hormuz recently suffered from a dangerous escalation of tension between Iran and the United States, especially after Gulf oil tankers near the strait were exposed to bombings that were involved in the Iranian authorities. Britain and many other European countries joined the Arab and Western situations, especially after the manifestations of the conflict escalated after Britain was detained by an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar, so that the circles of escalation and tension widen after Iran, in turn, held a British oil tanker while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, which raised various questions about The future of water corridors, which are vital arteries to transport oil and goods between the different continents of the world.
The future of water corridors:
The importance of this question is based on the exacerbation of the reversions of the spread of terrorist groups, which are based on their movements on regional organizations that support them to serve their policies and goals in expanding their influence and ensuring their interests across the region. This was recently emerged in the practices of the Iranian -backed Houthi group against some Emirati naval pieces through Bab al -Mandab, and this was previously attempt by terrorist groups to target the navigation course in Sina Various losses and damage to Arab Egypt (2). This is added to the nature of the challenges that maritime piracy wage against navigation roads, especially in the Horn of Africa, whether for transit ships to and from Bab al -Mandab, or to and from eastern Africa and the head of good hope, or vice versa towards the Arab Gulf states.
As a result, the escalation of the regional and international trend to launch operations centers for joint coordination, and to enhance the trends of establishing military bases near the maritime straits in the region, where major regional countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Egypt sought to reinstall their policies based on providing the necessary military capabilities in various areas Near the Red Sea coast to ensure the security and safety of international navigation. This came within the framework of the preventive policies aimed at proactive dealing with the results of the challenges that may result in Turkish, Iranian and Israeli policies to create military bases near the naval corridors of the region, where the Iranian and Israeli military presence on Eritrean islands is close to Bab al -Mandab, and the Turkish military bases in the Arab region And, which is present with bilateral agreements outside the framework of the coalition and collective security, where Turkey has established military bases in Qatar and Somalia.
The significance and importance of Al -Zubaidi's call regarding maritime security:
From the foregoing, it is possible to understand the significance of the time time in which the cry of the Southern Transitional Council, the Supreme Commander of the Southern Armed Forces, Major General Aidros Al -Zubaidi, came to the importance of raising the level of coordination and alliance between the countries concerned in the field of maritime security ... and the need of southern Yemen, especially to the forces of the coast and equipped coast.High equipment with all the necessary capabilities to protect the Yemeni coast in general and southern in particular, as the water front of Yemen over the Arab and red Bahrain extends a distance of (2500 km. (3), most of them in the south.
Major General Al -Zubaidi, under his leadership, fought the southern forces and with the support of the Arab coalition led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a fierce and expensive war to liberate the south, which constitutes two -thirds of the area of the Republic of Yemen that united in 1990, from the Houthis not only this, but this forces fought another war against terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISISWhich seized important southern provinces with collusion and inclusion between them and the Houthis and the centers of influence in Sanaa ... not to mention the problems resulting from smuggling, sabotage, immigration and displaced.
The most important maritime site and the Bab al -Mandab strait:
The Yemen maritime site is characterized by it consists of two water fronts in addition to controlling the Bab al -Mandab strait, one of the most important water harassment as a strategic waterway that connects the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, and shares its maritime borders with Yemen - controlling its eastern bank and on the island of Mayon that mediate the strait - each ofEritrea and Djibouti -on the West Bank of the Strait.The strait width is about 30 kilometers, starting from the head of Minhali in Yemen to Ras Sian in Djibouti.
The importance of the Bab al -Mandab Strait is that it is one of the most important water corridors in the world and the most embracing of ships, as it links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, from which 25 thousand ships pass every year, representing about 7% of global navigation, and its importance increases due to its association with the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz.
It is estimated that between 5 to 6 % of global oil production, or about 4 million tons, passes daily through the strait towards the Suez Canal and from there to the rest of the world (4). This makes him occupy the third place globally after the Strait of Hormuz and Malaga in terms of the amount of oil that crosses it daily, which increased its strategic importance, and increased its economic value, as it allows Yemen to expand its political, economic, and military relations, and gives it the ideal natural borders of what the sea constitutes a natural insulation between Yemen, and others, considering that protecting the maritime borders is less expensive if compared to the requirements of the vast land borders, which need a great power to defend, and gives it safety for its international trade if its other fronts are subjected to any threat.
The importance of this strait increased more after the establishment of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the connection of the Red Sea and the following to the Mediterranean.Since then, Bab al -Mandab has turned into one of the most important transportation corridors and crossings between European countries and the Mediterranean, and the world of the Indian Ocean and East Africa, especially with the increase in Gulf oil supplies to global markets.The width and depth of the western channel of the strait of various types of ships and oil tankers allows the crossing of the corridor to wrestle with two opposite axes apart.
For the South, especially the south, a strategic advantage in controlling the strait for possessing the island of Mayon - which was affiliated with the south before the unit - but the major powers and their ally worked to establish military bases near and around it due to its global importance in trade and transportation, as the United States has a base in Djibouti on the West BankTo the Bab al -Mandab strait, France also has an old military presence in Djibouti.In 1982, the United Nations sought to organize the issue of international waterways and entered its agreement known as the Jamaica Convention into force in November 1994.
Yemen also possesses many islands with an important location, which doubles the strategic importance of the maritime site, because of its expansion, distribution of commercial centers, marine and air bases. The Socotra Island, for example, constitutes an obstacle to jumping to the Asian land (the Arabian Peninsula) and to the African land,In addition to Yemen, on an important road to transport global oil through Bab al -Mandab and the Suez Canal.
"The water front of Yemen extends at a distance of (2500 km), meaning that each amount of area is met by 182.2 km2 and by comparing this rate at the general rate of the Arab world, which is 1/610 km2, we find that the coast of Yemen is relatively long, which makes the fabrication of the political region close to the coasts(5).
A pivotal Egyptian role:
The importance of Bab al -Mandab is linked to the importance of the survival of the Suez Canal first and the Strait of Hormuz second open to navigation, in front of the oil tankers, and any threat to these two passages or the Suez Canal alone turns ships into the Ras Al -Raya Road.
The importance of the Bab al-Mandab strait as one of the most important marine corridors in the world has increased, with the importance of the Arabian Gulf oil, as the number of ships and giant oil tankers that pass in both directions is estimated at more than 21-25 thousand naval pieces annually (57 pieces per day) (6).
The Egyptian naval forces, in coordination with the southern and northern Yemenis, closed the Bab al -Mandab Strait during the October 1973 war to besiege Israel.With the Yemeni crisis and the war, fears increased with the escalation of tensions from the attempts of the Houthi rebels to disrupt the international navigation movement in the strategic Bab al -Mandab Strait, after they took control of a large part of the Yemeni ports and bases on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. However, the maritime blockade through the Egyptian navy.Saudi Arabia and the liberation of the southern forces of the West Coast hindered any progress to the Houthi elements towards Bab al -Mandab.
Houthi record full of sea terrorism:
A spokesman for the Legitimacy Support Alliance in Yemen, Brigadier General Turki Al -Maliki revealed during a press conference held on January 8, 2022 AD that the Houthi militia launched more than 100 booby -trapped boats to target international navigation, while the joint Yemeni forces and the alliance dealt with 248 marine grills to secure navigation in the southern Red Sea.
The names of 10 Houthis were involved in targeting and piracy of the international navigation movement and commercial ships, the latest of which is the "Rawabi" ship, which bears the flag of the UAE, led by the terrorist listed on the US sanctions list, Mansour Al -Saadi.
The list included Al -Houthi Ahmed Ahmed Hals, Mundhir Ahmed Yahya Hassan, Shakib Khaled Ahmed Alawi, Ali Abdullah Yahya Dom, Naji Salem Ahmed hero, all of whom are northern Yemenis, and others.
According to the statement of the US Treasury on March 3, 2021, the inclusion of the Houthi pirate and terrorist Mansour Al -Saadi in the blacklist came to plan his "bloody attacks against international maritime transport in the Red Sea", targeting military and civil ships. "(7)
Al -Saadi received, according to the American statement, "full training in Iran, at the hands of Hezbollah militias, and contributed to the transfer of Iranian weapons to Yemen illegally."
The Houthi militia owns a busy record of terrorism in the Red Sea, as it carried out dozens of terrorist operations against oil and commercial ships, deployed hundreds of marine mines, and several times have tried to carry out terrorist attacks with car bombs.
The last of these crimes is exposed to the shipping ship "Rawabi", which bears the flag of the UAE and bears the full field equipment for operating the Saudi Field Hospital on the southern Yemeni island of Socotra, to piracy and kidnapping, on the evening of January 2, 2022 AD, while sailing off the province of Hodeidah.
Before this operation, the Legitimacy Support Alliance in Yemen recorded 13 Houthi violations against the commercial ships in the Red Sea:
Starting in 2015, the Houthi militias randomly began deploying mine and booby -trapped boats in the Red Sea and the Yemeni coasts, in addition to firing rockets from the nearby coasts.
-On October 1, 2016, the Houthis targeted the UAE ship "Swift" as it was transporting aid off the port of Mokha, after which the militia fired two missiles towards the American destroyer "USS Masson".
In early April 2018, a Saudi oil tanker was attacked by a Houthi -west of Hodeidah, and the coalition also destroyed on June 21, 2019 about 5 booby -trapped boats north of the port of Hodeidah, which threatened international navigation.
-In late 2021, the coup militias launched an attack near the head of Issa on a Saudi ship and two legs from South Korea. It was previously that an Omani ship was known as "the Hath" in February 2020, where the militias arrested its crew of 20 seas of Egyptian and Indian nationality for more than a year.
-On November 17, 2019, the Houthi militia detained a small Saudi ship and a clouds with a South Korean flag, as part of its systematic operations in the piracy of shipping ships.
-On January 6, 2022, a distress call tanker launched after an "armed harassment" off the port of Hodeidah in Yemen by the Houthi militia, while the British navy announced that it had received reports of an attack on a ship near the Ras Issa Yemeni port overlooking the Red Sea. (8))
*Conclusion and recommendations:
1- Water corridors, especially navigation, are the lung of the world and the arteries of human life, so protecting these corridors and coasts and staving off the risks from them are the protection of national, regional and international maritime security.
2- The security of the navigational corridors faces escalating threats that increase their causes and multiple elements formed for them.
3- It is proven that there is no room for doubt the involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the breach of maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, and the instrument of the Iranian authorities to the Houthi terrorist group, to threaten navigation in the Bab al-Mandab, marine piracy, smuggling and sabotage.
4- The Middle East region has a specificity related to its importance within the framework of international policies, and the nature of the conflicts and tensions that sweep it, whether between their countries or within many of them.
5- The navigational corridors are of strategic importance due to the necessities of securing them, as they represent suffocation points that facilitate strategic control over them by enemy entities and groups.
6- The invitation of the Southern Transitional Council, Major General Aidroos Al-Zubaidi, came in the context of his speech to my Arab channel and the event at its time and time, and it should be taken seriously about Arab maritime security and the urgent need for the southern forces to support the establishment of the forces of the coast and equipped coast at the highest level to face terrorist challenges, smuggling and sabotageMaadi on the vast Yemeni coast.
7- Today and more than ever highlights the need to raise the degrees of coordination, cooperation and solidarity between the countries of the region to the level of the strategic alliance, especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Emirates, and Yemen (anti-Houthi forces, headed by the Southern Transitional Council and the southern forces)
resources and references:
1) Beirut News Arabia, June 4, 2014
2) Magazine Magazine September 9, 2019
3) World Atlas of Oil and Gas Basins (English).Page 206. ISBN 1444390058. Excellence from the original on January 26, 2020.
4) Rania Hefni Al -Ahram 3 April 2015
5) Wikidia, encyclopedia jar
6) Rania Hefni Al -Ahram 3 April 2015, previous reference
7) The US Treasury Department, March 2, 2021 AD
8) Sky News Arabia January 10, 2022