Houthi defeat is our main goal: Yemen FM

Yemen's internationally recognised government wants the Iran-backed Houthi group to be defeated and state authority restored across the country, Foreign Minister Afrah Al-Zouba has said.

In an interview with London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Zouba said the government had not abandoned peace but rejected any settlement that allowed anti-state groups to remain armed.

“Our main goal is to bring about the final defeat of the Houthi rebels in Yemen and establish state authority across the country,” she said.

Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa. In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a military campaign to restore the government of then-president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The Houthis currently control Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, while the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council government holds parts of the south.

Al-Zouba also stressed the importance of securing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic waterway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. She said ensuring the safe passage of domestic and international vessels was directly linked to restoring state authority.

“Security in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait begins on Yemen's coast,” she said, adding that maritime security would remain incomplete as long as land areas were used to threaten the waterway.

Praising Saudi Arabia's political, military and economic support, Al-Zouba said the success of the campaign should be measured not by the number of cities recaptured but by how many people regained their security and how many families returned home.

-AJM