US Praises Saudi Promise to Keep Yemen Port Open for 30 Days

Officials Use Statement as Opportunity to Condemn Iran

Though there\s no sign the port is open in the first place, US officials were quick to praise Saudi Arabia for a new statement promising to keep the Hodeidah Port in northern Yemen open to humanitarian aid for the next 30 days.

Saudi officials made the comments in referencce to a recent Yemeni missile strike which was intercepted over Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials used the same thing as the pretext for closing all aid to Yemen just over a month prior.

And they apparently intend to do so again, just not for a month. That 30 days, which would carry a lot more leeway if ships weren’t routinely being prevented from delivering aid at any rate, was still enough for the US to be pleased.

At the same time, the US felt the need to be furious about Yemen’s missile, and as with last time, US officials said they hold Iran wholly responsible, despite north Yemen officials being very clear that it was their missile and they fired it.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.