The Vice President of Iran, Mohamad Reza Aref, celebrated this Friday the "victory of the brave people of Yemen" after the recent progress of the Houthis in the western strip of the country, where they have managed to take control of the strategic city of Mocha, located near the Bab el Mandeb strait.
"We are pleased with the victory of the brave people of Yemen," the Iranian vice president indicated in a message disseminated on social media, referring to the capture of several localities in a key area for the control of the Bab el Mandeb strait, the access route to the Red Sea.
"Our message, as always, to the rulers of the region is an invitation to rationality, to free themselves from dependence, and to unite around the banner of Islam," Aref added in his post.
In the same vein, he urged the "formation of a powerful Islamic economic and political bloc," that "respects the considerations of neighborhood and regional cohesion," emphasizing that this project constitutes "the guarantee of the interests of the Islamic community."
The Houthis, a movement supported by Iran despite the ideological and structural divergences between both parties, have consolidated their presence on the Yemeni western coast in recent days. In the last hours, they have taken the localities of Dhubab and Murad, thus completing the takeover of the entire coastal stretch of the Red Sea that was still not under their control.