Documents reveal US pressure on ex-Yemeni regime to agree on normalizing ties with Israel

The interior ministry of Yemen’s National Salvation Government has released a series of confidential documents detailing the United States pressure on the administration of former Yemeni dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to normalize relations with Israel and lift the blockade on products made in the Israeli occupied territories.

According to the documents, the US embassy in Sana’a had asked then-Yemeni authorities to end the economic embargo on Israeli goods, and not to participate in any activities deemed harmful to the Tel Aviv regime, the official Yemeni news agency Saba reported.

The papers expose the level of Washington’s and Tel Aviv’s discontent and frustration with the blockade, and how US officials left no stone unturned to force former Yemeni officials into opening the Arab country’s market to Israeli businesses and their products.

The former US ambassador to Yemen, Thomas C. Krajeski, called on Saleh’s regime to lift sanctions on companies with first-, second- or third-degree ties to Israel, which was not turned down by the Yemeni side. 

Yemen government: Saudi, UAE, Israeli occupation of Yemeni islands violates intl. law

Yemen’s government once again strongly denounces the occupation of its islands by Saudi Arabia-led coalition, saying the move is a blatant violation of international law.

Then-Yemeni foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, later told the US ambassador that the so-called embargo on US and Israeli goods was not actually being enforced.

The documents go on to reveal that the US embassy urged the Yemeni foreign ministry not to dispatch representatives to an anti-Israel event at the University of Damascus in Syria.

Moreover, the American diplomat described Yemen’s removal of boycott of Israeli products as the fundamental prerequisite for the Arab state’s membership in the World Trade Organization, and its access to free trade and international investment.

Israel constantly meddled in Yemen’s internal affairs under slain dictator: Army spokesman

The spokesman for Yemeni armed forces says Israel constantly meddled in Yemen’s internal affairs during the rule of slain dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Last month, Spokesman for Yemen’s Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced that Yemeni security forces had arrested a man involved in espionage activities on behalf of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

Saree said in a tweet at the time that more details on the matter will be provided in a documentary entitled “The Spy of Mossad in Yemen.”

‘Mysterious’ airbase being built on island off Yemen linked to UAE

A “mysterious” airbase being built on a volcanic island in the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb, off Yemen’s southwestern coast and at the cusp of a key global maritime energy trade route, has been traced to the United Arab Emirates.

The documentary will shed light on part of Israel's intervention in the country and “the plan to target Yemen militarily, and other secrets revealed for the first time,” the senior Yemeni military figure pointed out.

The developments come as earlier reports said that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have been working to establish a spy base on Yemen’s strategically-located island of Socotra.

The UAE has also been accused of constructing an air base on the Mayyun Island, situated off the Yemeni coast in the Bab el-Mandeb.

Israeli tourists flocking to Yemeni island of Socotra using UAE-issued visas: Report

Israeli tourists are reportedly flocking to the strategic Yemeni island of Socotra with visas issued by the United Arab Emirates.

Both activities have drawn strong condemnation from the Yemeni government, which has described them as violation of Yemen's sovereignty and international law, especially following the illegally-run tours to Socotra from Abu Dhabi, some of which included Israeli tourists.

“The transfer of tourists to the Socotra Island reveals the plans and programs of the occupying UAE, which are in line with the Zionist schemes to dominate Yemeni islands as well as the steps towards normalization with the regime,” a statement read back then.

Yemen censures UAE for transferring Israeli tourists to Socotra Island

Yemen strongly condemns a recent move by the UAE to transfer Israeli tourists to the strategic island of Socotra on Emirati visas.

Yemen’s popular Ansaullah resistance movement has previously threatened to attack Israel if it was "involved in any action against Yemeni people.”

The Israeli regime took the threats seriously, and deployed its Iron Dome and Patriot missile systems around the southern city of Eilat early this year.

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