Fact Checking the Arab Media

On January 8, 2022, Saudi Arabia Brigadier General Turki Al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Arab coalition fighting against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, unveiled dramatic footage during a press conference purporting to show a Houthi ballistic missile factory and transit point. “Hodeidah port,” he said, in reference to a key Red Sea port controlled by the Houthis, “is the primary port for receiving Iranian ballistic missiles. The missiles are put together and assembled in [the port] under the supervision of Iranian security officials. This is in a specific location inside Hodeidah port, which is composed of workshops of ballistic missiles, which are then transported out of the port."

It should be noted that United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216, passed in 2015, formally recognizes Yemeni President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi as the “legitimate” president of Yemen and calls for the Houthis to withdraw to their pre-2014 positions i.e. before they overthrew the Hadi-led government in the capital Sana’a.

Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in Yemen on March 26, 2015, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa that responded to calls from Hadi for military support after he was ousted.

Seven years on, attacks between the two sides have grown ever more devastating, with the Houthis increasingly employing ballistic missiles and drones in attacks on Saudi facilities (including civilian ones) and the Saudi-led coalition engaging in airstrikes in Houthi controlled areas (including civilian ones). More than 20 million Yemenis now need humanitarian assistance, while the recently departed UN head in Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said recently that he believes “five million people are one step away from succumbing to famine.”

However, as several media outlets, including those whose views are routinely opposed to Saudi Arabia’s role in Yemen, were quick to point out, the video clip used by Al-Maliki, “...was identical to footage at the 1 hour 10-minute mark of the 2009 film Severe Clear, a documentary based on a US marine’s video diary of the 21-day advance on Baghdad during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

At a news conference the next day, Al-Maliki admitted the error and said the footage had been “erroneously passed from a source…we are dealing in an area of operations that has a lot of sources, and this comes within the marginal error of dealing with sources.” He added, however: “Although this video is false, this does not mean that the Houthis do not use and militarize the port.” While true - the falsity of the video doesn't itself then disprove claims over the Houthi militarization of the port - the UN mission in Yemen’s al-Hodeidah port has been more circumspect than the Arab Coalition about the underlying assertion about the Port itself, expressing “great concern” over claims it was being used for military purposes. Although the UN has demanded access for an inspection, the Houthis, notably, have rejected the UN demand. Meanwhile, ballistic missile attacks continue to originate from Houthi-controlled areas - although their entry and assembly points remain unverified - while Arab Coalition air attacks also continue.