US paranoia over Iran’s role in Yemen unjustified: American philosopher

Tuesday, 21 April 2015 8:03 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 22 April 2015 2:20 AM ]

This US Navy photo, released on April 21, 2015, shows the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), heading to the Arabian Sea in the Persian Gulf.

The United States move to join a naval blockade against Yemen has “the effect of keeping food from the people rather than weapons form the rebels”, says American philosopher James Fetzer.

The US was “embarrassed” last week after one of its ships, taking part in the blockade, boarded a Panamanian cargo ship, accused of carrying Iranian weapons to Yemen’s Houthi fighters, but found nothing, Fetzer said in a Tuesday phone interview with Press TV.

“This is further confirmation that American and Western paranoia toward Iran is completely unjustified.”

The Pentagon confirmed on Monday that the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the cruiser USS Normandy have also been dispatched near the impoverished country.

This US Navy photo, released on April 21, 2015, shows the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), heading to the Arabian Sea in the Persian Gulf. (AFP)

Pakistan wisdom vs. that of US

“It is a tragedy that the United States finds itself once again on the wrong side of a movement that’s intended to benefit the people of a nation,” Fetzer said referring to the Ansarullah movement in the Arab world’s poorest country.

*A Yemeni walks past a vehicle damaged the day before during an air strike by Saudi warplanes on the capital Sana’a on April 21, 2015. (AFP)*

Washington has not only managed to display the “wisdom” of Pakistan which has refused to join the Saudi aggression, but also “continues to disgrace itself through the abuse of its military power”.

Citing “the current instability" in Yemen, a US Navy Monday statement said Washington’s presence had been “increased” in the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Southern Red Sea.

Earlier on Tuesday, Riyadh declared a halt to aerial bombardment of the impoverished country, a move hailed by the government in Tehran.

The air campaign against the Ansarullah fighters of the Houthi movement has also targeted the country’s infrastructure and residential areas after it started on March 26, without a United Nations mandate, in a bid to restore power to the country’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

According to reports, some 2,800 people, including women and children, have lost their lives in the attacks so far.

NT/NT

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