Aden (South24) 

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Yesterday, the Iran-backed Houthi militia threatened to target the strategic port of Aden in South Yemen.

This came in a speech by Mahdi Al-Mashat, head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, in Amran governorate, North Yemen.

The senior Houthi official announced that the group had prevented two ships during the past few days from entering the Port of Aden to load natural gas.

“We were at war with the ships ’Cinemargent‘ and ’Bolivar‘. The two ships were coming to the Port of Aden to loot 40,000 tons of gas. We informed the companies that owned the two ships that we would strike them if they entered the port," he said.

Al-Mashat claimed that they had allowed the passage of shipments of natural gas from Marib to Aden to meet the people's needs.

The Houthi leader’s threat came two days after measures taken by the President of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidrous Al-Zubaidi, in Aden to resume the long-stalled operations at the Aden Refinery.

Al-Zubaidi, accompanied by the Governor of Aden Ahmed Lamlas, visited the Aden Refinery Company on Tuesday. Al-Zubaidi said that as a first step directives had been issued to resume activity at the refinery to work as a free zone for storing oil derivatives for suppliers.

According to Al-Zubaidi, the second stage involved preparing to start the refining operations. Aden Refinery is considered the most important oil refining facility in South Yemen. It had stopped working since 2015 due to the war.

Al-Mashat also threatened to target US and British forces in Yemen. He said that they were receiving reports of the presence of American and British forces in the Southern governorates.

Al-Mashat described the Southern governorates as "occupied”. He said: "We see news about the landing of US Marines and British forces in the occupied governorates, and here I warn them against going too far [..], Yemen is a red line."

Al-Mashat also talked about what he termed as the US’ "Plan B", which he said the US embassy was seeking to implement in Yemen.

He added: "We are aware of this plan that lasts from 2020 to 2025. We will fail this plan as well."

Al-Mashat reiterated that the Houthi militia had drones and missiles.

He threatened to engage in a "military escalation" in order to “extract” the salaries of military and civilian employees of Houthi-controlled areas.

The threats from the Houthi official came even as US Ambassador to Yemen Steven Fagin was visiting Hadramout.

Yesterday, ambassador Fagin arrived in Seiyun – in the first visit by a US ambassador to Wadi Hadramout in 10 years.

Fagin met with the Governor of Hadramout, Mabkhout bin Madi. The two officials discussed the latest developments, according to the local authority’s media office.

Fagin said: "We are keen to keep the security situation in Hadramout stable so that it remains a model for peace in Yemen."

The ambassador pointed out that his visit was to discuss the security, political and economic situation in Hadramout, in addition to supporting the stability of the governorate, countering terrorism and reviewing the conditions of the internally displaced persons.

The Governor of Hadramout stressed the importance of regular visits by the US ambassador "in the context of their keenness to support efforts to enhance the security, stability and counter terrorism measures," according to the media office.

Fagin also met with Yemeni Interior Minister Ibrahim Haidan, during which they discussed the issue of sending Yemeni officers to the United States.

Prior to these meetings, Fagin also met with Hadrami political and social figures upon his arrival at Seiyun International Airport.

At the meeting, STC official in Wadi Hadramout, Mohammed Al-Zubaidi, called for respecting the people's aspirations for the independence of the South.

Mohammed Al-Zubaidi said: "Hadramout is part of the South, while the First Military District [Northern forces] only sponsors terrorism and security chaos".

Fagin's visit came amid a competition between Saudi Arabia and the UAE-backed Southern forces to extend control over the strategic and oil-rich Wadi Hadramout region.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the UN Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, made his first visit to the Marib governorate [the government part].

Grundberg met with the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) member, Sultan Al-Arada, who is also the Governor of Marib.

Simultaneously to the visit, a woman was injured in a rocket attack targeting camps for internally displaced in southern the governorate of Marib, according to the Human Rights Office in the governorate.

The office accused the Houthi militia of being behind the attack. The Houthis did not officially claim responsibility to it and did not comment on the accusations.

The US embassy posted today that "the United States condemns the attacks that took place on August 30 on four camps for the displaced in Marib governorate, as a deliberate threat to civilians."

The statement did not clearly indicate who was behind the attack.

In another important political development, PLC Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi and Aidrous Al-Zubaidi met today, with the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Albudaiwi, in Aden