In 2011, the politician Rashad al-Alimi, now 71, was seriously injured in a rocket attack launched by the Houthi militia against the presidential palace in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. He was flown to Germany for treatment and spent a year recovering in Berlin.
Since April 2022, Alimi has been the Yemeni head of state. The legitimate government, which he leads, was violently driven out of Sanaa in 2015 and its current official headquarters are in Aden.
The country has been unable to find peace, with mediation efforts thus far falling short. Since 2023, the Houthis have been attacking merchant and military vessels in the Red Sea, allegedly out of solidarity with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was triggered by the massacre in Israel perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The article you are reading originally appeared in German in issue 13/2025 (March 22nd, 2025) of DER SPIEGEL.
In an interview with DER SPIEGEL in a Munich hotel, Alimi emphasizes his gratitude and “close relations” with Germany, where he “learned to walk a second time.” In the interview, he says that the recent U.S. air strikes against Houthi positions likely marked the beginning of a larger military clash and accuses Iran of fueling the conflict.
DER SPIEGEL: The U.S. military has been conducting strikes on positions in Yemen since mid-March. Dozens of people have been killed. Why now?
Alimi: The American attacks on Houthi militia positions are a pre-emptive response to their recent terrorist threats to resume attacks on shipping.
Angela Weiss / AFP
Rashad al-Alimi, 71, was born in the town of Taizz in southwestern Yemen. His father was a judge. He pursued military studies, art and sociology before serving as interior minister and deputy prime minister and was a close confidant of long-time ruler Ali Abdullah Salih, whose tenure began in 1978. Salih was murdered by Houthi rebels in 2017. After the Houthis took control of Sanaa in 2015, Alimi fled to Saudi Arabia, where he has close contacts in the government. As head of the Presidential Leadership Council, he has been the official head of state for Yemen since 2022 and is equipped with the powers of president.
DER SPIEGEL: The Houthis have even claimed that they have attacked the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, from which warplanes take off on their way to strike targets in Yemen, on several occasions. Their threats to international merchant shipping are purportedly in protest over Israel’s war in Gaza. How credible are those claims?
Alimi: That is just a pretext. I interpret the Houthis’ statements as a reaction to the Trump administration’s recent decision to classify the theocratic-fascist Houthi militia as a foreign terrorist organization.
A Yemeni man inspects a destroyed building in Sanaa on March 17 following the recent U.S. airstrikes.
Foto: Khaled Abdullah / REUTERS
DER SPIEGEL: What do you believe is their true motivation?
Alimi: The Houthis want to blackmail the world in the Red Sea and are cloaking their acts of sabotage in misleading political justifications. Behind it lies the grand Iranian vision of controlling the Red Sea. It is an old project of Tehran’s and the Houthis are playing the role of accomplices.
A propaganda presentation of an alleged Houthi attack on a merchant ship in the Red Sea (in Sanaa on March 17).
Foto: Mohammed Huwais / AFP
DER SPIEGEL: What exactly does the U.S. hope to achieve with its strikes in Yemen?
Alimi: The Americans are primarily interested in securing the maritime routes. But another factor is the problematic role of Iran, which is enabling the terrorist activities of the Houthis and thus pursuing its expansionist plans in the region.
But a few air strikes will not be sufficient to put an end to this threat to international shipping. The problem is the existence of a fascist group that toppled our elected government 10 years ago and turned itself into a tool for Iran’s axis of evil.
“Yemen is currently Iran’s most important card.”
DER SPIEGEL: What is the logic behind the strikes on civilian merchant ships?
Alimi: There is no logic behind these attacks on international shipping. The temporary suspension of these attacks during the ceasefire in Gaza was also a tactical pause. Behind it are Iran’s long-term strategic aims.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi announcing a ban on American ships in the Red Sea and threatening to target U.S. warships.
Foto: SalamPix / ABACAPRESS / IMAGO
DER SPIEGEL: Iran has been considerably weakened ever since its allies, Hamas and Hezbollah, have taken heavy losses in the Gaza War and in Lebanon, respectively. What are the consequences for cooperation with Yemen?
Alimi: Following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by the Israelis in September of last year, Iran and Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi agreed to establish Abdul-Malik al-Houthi as Nasrallah’s successor, as the new, political-spiritual leader. That is why Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, in his sermons, now speaks of Yemen leading the axis of resistance.
DER SPIEGEL: On what do you base your claims that Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is to replace Nasrallah?
Alimi: Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s ambitions to become the most important figure in the Iranian axis are not new. We know of secret meetings between him and his Iranian backers that confirm this.
Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi (next to the flag) speaking with DER SPIEGEL reporter Susanne Koelbl.
Foto: Botschaft Republik Jemen
DER SPIEGEL: Is that not a bit unrealistic, also from a geographical perspective?
Alimi: Not at all. The Iranian investments into solidifying Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s leadership role likely currently exceed the support that Hassan Nasrallah once received. Much of the military support that used to go to Bashar al-Assad in Syria and to Hezbollah is now being diverted by Iran to the Houthis. Yemen is currently Iran’s most important card. That can also be seen by the appointment of a Revolutionary Guards commander as the ambassador to the Houthi militia in Sanaa. Iran is pursuing long-term goals here.
“Much of the military support that used to go to Bashar al-Assad in Syria and to Hezbollah is now being diverted by Iran to the Houthis.”
DER SPIEGEL: Are you trying to say that the powerful supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is uninterested in making a deal, as U.S. President Donald Trump would say, despite the negotiations that are allegedly underway?
Alimi: Exactly. Tehran doesn’t want peace. You could see that when the Houthis violated the Stockholm Agreement …
DER SPIEGEL: … the 2018 ceasefire brokered by the United Nations, primarily for the port city of Al Hudaydah, which is of strategic importance for Yemen.
Alimi: This agreement was forced on the legitimate government at a time when we were on the verge of taking control of the port. We accepted the agreement anyway, because we wanted peace. The pact was signed by us and the Houthis in Stockholm in the presence of the UN secretary general and the British foreign minister, and the Houthis then violated it a short time later …
DER SPIEGEL: … the warring parties have both accused each other of breaching the Stockholm Agreement …
Alimi: … but they broke it, rearmed with weapons and munitions from Iran.
“The weapons used by the Houthis are exact copies of those in the Iranian arsenal.”
DER SPIEGEL: How do the weapons from Iran get to the country despite sanctions and sea blockades?
Alimi: Just recently, we confiscated a shipment which had been brought overseas and across the land border to the Sultanate of Oman into the areas controlled by the militias. All of these high-quality weapons, which are now being used by the Houthis to attack shipping and regional and international interests, were not part of the Yemeni army’s arsenal. Our secret services have comprehensive proof, including the names of experts from Iran, Lebanon and other countries that Iran has inserted into the areas controlled by the militias. The weapons used by the Houthis are exact copies of those in the Iranian arsenal. Reports from the UN sanctions committee have also confirmed the Iranian origin, short-range ballistic missiles, medium-range weapons and glide missiles for ground attacks, guided missiles, anti-ship weapons, surface-to-air missiles, single-use attack drones and launch platforms.
DER SPIEGEL: For how long has this cooperation between the Houthis and Tehran been in existence?
Alimi: As interior minister and deputy prime minister, I saw all the evidence of Iran’s meddling early on – long before the government fell.
U.S. warplanes taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea for an attack on positions in Yemen (on March 16).
Foto: Mekhi Manson / AFP
DER SPIEGEL: Why is Iran investing so much in the Houthis in Yemen?
Alimi: Iran is working in cooperation with al-Qaida, the Houthis and all terrorist organizations on the Horn of Africa on a long-term strategy. They believe they must assemble an alliance against the West and against all those in the region who receive support from the West.
DER SPIEGEL: That is a serious and dangerous accusation. What proof do you have for Iran’s alleged alliance with al-Qaida?
Alimi: We have information that Saif al-Adl, the head of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, lives in Iran. He wouldn’t be able to do so without an invitation from security agencies there. After taking power in Sanaa, the Houthis released all al-Qaida members who were serving long prison sentences for terrorist attacks. They equipped them with weapons and money so they could carry out terrorist attacks in regions under government control.
DER SPIEGEL: Do you also have proof of that?
Alimi: Al-Qaida is supported in Iran by a religious fatwa. Somalian officials confiscated a significant amount of weapons that were passed on by the Houthis to the Shabab militia, which is affiliated with al-Qaida. Those are facts, we have the evidence.
DER SPIEGEL: U.S. President Trump has demanded that Tehran agree to a deal that would include not just the country’s nuclear program, but which would also lead to a fundamental shift in the role Iran plays in the region. He would, Trump said, prefer that to “bombing the hell out of it.” Is that the correct approach?
Alimi: Iran is working in the long term to achieve its strategic goals of dominating the region. All negotiations and dialogues are merely tactics to achieve those goals. It would be nice if you in the West would finally understand this.
DER SPIEGEL: A military alliance under the leadership of Saudi Arabia tried for years to defeat the Houthis militarily, without success. The result was over a hundred-thousand deaths, unimaginable suffering and the destruction of Yemen’s agricultural land. What do you propose should be done?
Alimi: Your simplified portrayal of the war is part of the problem. Without the Saudi-led coalition, the Houthis and Iran would have taken over control of all of Yemen – all the way to the border with Oman. With the help of the coalition, we were able to liberate 70 percent of the territory. Furthermore, over 3 million Yemenis work in Saudi Arabia. Without their remittances back home and without Saudi Arabia as a donor country, Yemen would be in a much worse position.
DER SPIEGEL: What is the path to peace?
Alimi: The Houthis must be classified as a terrorist organization worldwide, including in Europe. They must be economically isolated, and the resolutions of the UN Security Council must be implemented. The legitimate government should restore its state institutions.
DER SPIEGEL: That sounds as though the merchant fleet in the Red Sea should prepare for the passage to remain unsafe for the foreseeable future. Is that correct?
Alimi: Don’t be naïve. Don’t allow yourself to be misled. The sabotage strategy of this theocratic project must be defeated. That is the only way Yemen can be rebuilt in the manner its sons deserve …
DER SPIEGEL: … and hopefully its daughters as well.
Alimi: … and of course also its daughters. If the hesitation continues and if the Houthis don’t come to the negotiating table, the threat to commercial shipping will continue.