A video is being widely shared on social media in which a military officer is heard saying that the Yemeni president is warning against the entry of Israeli ships into the Red Sea.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Yemeni President: Any ship linked to the Zionist entity will not pass through the Red Sea no matter the cost. Is there any Arab president as brave as the Yemeni president?”
SouthCheck found that the claim was false. We found that the man in the viral video is not Yemen’s president but Mahdi al-Mashat, Houthi’s supreme leader.
On a Google reverse image search, we found the same video uploaded on YouTube on December 25, 2024. The video was shared with a caption which stated that Mahdi Al-Mashat said that any ship associated with Israel wouldn't be allowed to pass through the Red Sea.
We further found that another verified YouTube channel, AlmahriahTV had uploaded the same video on January 7, 2024. The report suggested that Al-Mashat had said that the crime of ‘targeting our heroes from the naval forces would not pass, and America would pay the price.’
Mahdi al-Mashat is the Houthi Ansar Allah movement's Supreme Political Council chairman and Yemen’s president is Rashad al-Alimi.
Houthi is a rebel group in Yemen which is backed by Iran. Moreover, a report published by Arab News on January 28, 2024, stated that Rashad Al-Amini had asked for international support to prevent the militarisation of the Red Sea by the Houthis. The report read, “Rashad Al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, has urged the international community to provide military assistance to his government to free the country’s Red Sea coast from the Houthis.”
Therefore, we conclude that the viral claim is false.
