In the first precedent of its kind, a US Department of Defense official announced on Wednesday, that American forces are present on the Yemeni island of Socotra.
“We have bolstered our missile defenses on the island of Socotra,” the US official told Sky News Arabia. He added, “these measures are being taken to intercept long-range missiles that the Houthis may launch.”
The presence of US military forces on Socotra Island seems to escalate tensions in the international trade routes across the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Red Sea, where Socotra Island strategically overlooks those maritime passages.
The acknowledgment of US military presence on Yemen’s Socotra Island comes amid rapid military movements witnessed on the island recently, the latest being revelations about Indian military intentions to establish a presence on the Yemeni island. This was preceded by revelations of the UAE expanding military facilities on Abd al-Kuri Island, one of the islands of the Socotra Archipelago.
It is not unlikely that the aim of the Americans is to control maritime trade routes by force amid the fierce competition between the United States and China. International experts, led by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, have previously warned of the possibility of a limited world war breaking out in the Red Sea between the United States and its allies on one side, and China and its allies on the other, if the competition between the two sides gets out of control.
While indicators suggest that the US military presence preceded the acknowledgment by the US Department of Defense official, especially since there is widespread belief that Washington and other Western hegemonic powers have been using the UAE as a cover for Western military activities on Yemeni islands and ports.
Under no circumstances can the American military presence in the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait and the occupation of Yemen’s islands in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea be ignored.
Strategic experts and analysts, foremost among them the late strategic analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, previously stated that the Saudi-led coalition war on Yemen will not end without the United States attempting to achieve its dream of controlling the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait and the Yemeni islands under the name of the “Arab coalition” led by Washington.
