S Arabia has US carte blanche in region: Academic

Press TV has conducted an interview with Sami Ramadani, a professor at London Metropolitan University, to discuss the ongoing Saudi military aggression against Yemen.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Ramadani, please give us your assessment on the situation in Yemen as Riyadh continues to press ahead with its offensive against its impoverished neighbor.

Ramadani:  I think the Saudi ruling family is still determined to continue this war on the people of Yemen - the poorest country in the Middle East and across the Arab world as well.

This is a continuation of a long history of Saudi interference and interventions in Yemeni affairs. They have always acted in a way which contradicted the wishes and desires of the Yemeni people ever since colonial rule over Yemen and the division of Yemen and the reunification of Yemen.

Saudi Arabia always tried to sabotage whatever the majority of Yemeni people wanted and this is no exception now but it is a new episode in the sense that it is an open warfare, it has not happened like that before where Saudi Arabia leads the so-called coalition - really it is 99 percent Saudi backed by the United States - to commit this war on the people of Yemen.

And the recent bombings whether in Sa'da or in Sana’a is Israeli part of this campaign which is in effect targeting the infrastructure of Yemen. You have a very poor country with limited infrastructure, but even that limited infrastructure that supports life in Yemen is being targeted by the Saudis and a lot of the targeting is assisted by the US naval forces in the area.   

Press TV: Professor Ramadani, it has been well-documented that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Yemen. How do you explain the lack of action on behalf of the international community to alter the situation there?

Ramadani: Well it is really easy to explain because Saudi Arabia happens to be the darling, the Saudi royal family happens to be the darling of all these major powers – the United States, Britain, France, you name it - and they have enormous influence. They influence the world media, they influence the United Nations, the Security Council, so you have a situation where the Saudi royal family is in effect being given carte blanche to do whatever they like in the region.

They have for example, also in the last few months since the advent of the new king, King Salman, the Saudi king, the new king has escalated Saudi intervention in Syria, in the war in Syria by backing the terror groups there.

So it is a picture where the Saudis are given a free hand by the United States, which is the Saudi state’s main ally, supplier of arms, enforcer in terms of protecting Saudi interest and so on. They have been given a free hand by the United States to intervene in Yemen and Syria and Iraq. They have a big role in Iraq as well in terms of funding organizations and having links with some of the terror groups in Iraq as well.

AHK/HMV

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