IRAN'S RED LINE IN YEMEN

S E C R E T SANAA 000149

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP:AMACDONALD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR YM
SUBJECT: IRAN'S RED LINE IN YEMEN

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (S) SUMMARY. "Iran is a crucial neighbor so Yemen should
respect its red lines and it should respect Yemen's red lines
too," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Abu Bakr al-Qirbi
during a January 19 interview with an independent, sometimes
sensationalist, news outlet. The comment, apparently
unprovoked, reflects Yemen's reluctantly pragmatic
relationship with Iran, a relationship that is often shrouded
in suspicion. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) During a January 21 meeting on other topics, the DCM
asked Foreign Ministry Protocol Chief Abdullah al-Radhi what
provoked the Foreign Minister's comment about Iran crossing
Yemen's "red lines." Al-Radhi, who spent a total of 25 years
in Iran both as a student and a diplomat, eventually serving
as Yemen's ambassador to Iran, explained that although no
specific incident had triggered the Foreign Minister's
remarks, Yemen was tired of Iran's "cultural and religious
interference" in Yemen.


3. (C) This interference, according to al-Radhi, has been
especially acute in Yemen's Hadramawt Governorate. Beginning
in the early 1990s, Yemen opened several electricity and
construction projects in this region to the Iranians. In
return, complained al-Radhi, the Iranians began trying to
convert and/or politicize the Hadramis. "They're trying to
use Shi'a communities in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen
like they use Hizballah in Lebanon ) as a political card,"
said al-Radhi. "This kind of religious and cultural
interference," added al-Radhi, "is precisely the kind of 'red
line' to which the Foreign Minister was referring."

IF IT'S TRUE...
--------------


4. (S) Yemen currently maintains close relations with Iran,
despite deep suspicions of their intentions. A number of
ministerial visits have taken place, most recently by Iran's
Housing and Construction Minister to Yemen in early 2009.
Although al-Radhi described the Iranians as "not open,
difficult to talk to, willing to lie, and full of hidden
agendas," he concluded by noting that Yemen appreciates
Iran's "attitudes towards certain Arab issues," adding, "...
if it's true."


5. (C) This sentiment appears to be shared with other ROYG
officials as well. During a recent dinner at the DCM's
residence, an important tribal sheikh and Member of
Parliament Sheikh Mohammed Nagi al-Shaif, asserted that Iran
was fomenting violence in Gaza by supporting Hamas. The
night's prominent Yemeni government guests agreed with
al-Shaif's assessment that by interfering in Gaza, Iran's
goal was to keep the Arab Middle East unstable in order to
exert more influence regionally.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES?
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6. (U) In November 2008 an Iranian man was sentenced to
death, and 11 other Iranian nationals were sentenced to 25
years in prison, for drug smuggling, confirming for many
suspicions of Iran's nefarious activity in Yemen. Iranians
in Yemen, no matter what the reason, are often viewed with
distrust. Earlier in the year a group of Baha'is, a
religious minority persecuted in Iran, were publicly accused
of spying for Iran following their detainment by the Ministry
of Interior on charges of proselytizing.


7. (C) The ROYG's longest standing complaint is that the
Iranians support the al-Houthi rebellion in Saada. Post's
contacts in the governorate report that Hizballah flags and
pictures of Hizballah Chief Hassan Nasrallah are commonly
used by the al-Houthis to rally support. Post has not been
able to independently confirm these reports. The majority of
people in Saada are Zaidi Shi'a, a different sect of Shiism
from the predominant Shi'a sect in Iran, with few cultural
and historical ties between them. The al-Houthis do however
represent the sector of the population discontent with the
centralized, predominantly Sunni ROYG.


8. (S) COMMENT. Given that Yemen tries assiduously to avoid
increasing tension with Iran, the Foreign Minister's pushie
remarks must be viewed as reflecting a sharply higher level
of concern by the ROYG regarding Tehran's intentions in
Yemen. END COMMENT.
SECHE