The Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council has drawn widespread criticism following a perceived shift in its official stance regarding the Houthi delegation's travel to Iran. Initially condemning the departure as a violation of Yemeni sovereignty, the council subsequently moved to discuss arrangements for their return to Sana'a, including offering to charter a Yemen Airways plane. This inconsistency has led to significant backlash, with observers arguing it weakens the council's political messaging and raises questions about the coherence of its positions.
The Presidential Leadership Council had previously announced that Iran, through the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, requested a flight by Iran's Mahan Air to Sana'a airport for Houthi elements who had left Sana'a on July 3rd. The council affirmed that this departure constituted a violation of Yemeni sovereignty. However, in parallel, it declared the government's readiness to facilitate their return via a chartered Yemen Airways plane, designated as the national carrier.
Despite the council's assertion of refusing Iranian flights to Sana'a outside legal frameworks and pledging necessary political, diplomatic, and military measures to protect sovereignty, its focus on finding alternatives for the Houthi delegation's return, rather than outright rejecting it under the circumstances of their departure, has fueled considerable criticism. This is particularly pronounced given that the council itself had described the delegation's departure as a challenge to legitimacy and international law.
Activists and writers have voiced concerns about this perceived contradiction. Ali Aqbah, an activist, stated that the public expected a firmer stance rejecting the return of Houthi leaders from Tehran, especially after their departure was labeled a violation of sovereignty. He expressed surprise that the recent statement focused on alternative return arrangements, including chartering a Yemeni airline, describing it as a significant and difficult-to-explain shift in the official position.
Ahmed Al-Juhayfi, a writer, pointed to a clear conflict between recent statements by the Presidential Leadership Council chairman, who characterized the Houthis as Iran's proxies not representing Yemen, and the latest statement that practically discussed arranging a Yemeni plane for their return. Al-Juhayfi sarcastically suggested the council appeared to be attempting a reconciliation, implying that the Houthis are Iranian affiliates if they return on a Mahan Air flight, but Yemeni if they travel on Yemen Airways, a paradox he believes reflects the prevailing confusion in the official discourse.
Journalist Abdulsalam Al-Qaisi criticized what he described as the legitimacy government's preoccupation with the Houthi delegation's return from Tehran, while the country faces more pressing issues. He deemed the Presidential Leadership Council's meeting to discuss the return of figures like Nasr al-Din Amer, Al-Sufyani, and Mohammed Mansour as a misordering of priorities. Al-Qaisi argued that a return via an Iranian plane would be less damaging than the legitimate government becoming a transport service for Houthi leaders, which he believes grants the group a political and media victory and positions the government as an intermediary between the Houthis and Tehran, rather than in opposition to the Iranian agenda.
Mustafa Al-Makhlafi, another activist, described the government's stance as a regression in dealing with the Houthi group, noting that instead of taking a firm position against the militia's actions, the authorities announced their readiness to charter a private plane for Abdulmalik Al-Houthi's delegation, despite Iran's Mahan Air previously handling such travel. Al-Makhlafi views this development as moving the government from a political confrontation to providing facilities for its adversary, thereby granting the Houthis a new gain at the expense of state authority and its sovereign messaging.
These criticisms emerge as the Presidential Leadership Council reiterates that the Houthi militia has seized four Yemen Airways planes in the past year, disrupted the national carrier's operations, and subsequently seen those planes destroyed. The council accuses the group of seeking to replace Yemen Airways with Iran's Mahan Air for direct flights between Sana'a and Tehran, serving, according to the official statement, an Iranian agenda to consolidate its influence in Yemen. Observers suggest the ongoing debate is not solely about the mode of transport, but about what they perceive as a discrepancy between political rhetoric and practical action, with critics demanding that decisions and procedures align with declared positions on protecting sovereignty and confronting Iranian interventions, rather than offering initiatives that could be interpreted as a retreat from the council's recent pronouncements.
