Al-Mashat: September 21 Revolution arose from national need to end decades of corruption & foreign dependence

The Supreme Political Council President Field Marshal Mahdi Al-Mashat congratulated Revolution Leader Sayyed Abdulmalik Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi, the armed forces and security personnel, state institutions, and the Yemeni people on the 12th anniversary of the September 21 Revolution and the victory achieved by expelling Saudi forces from western coastal districts.

In a speech marking the anniversary, Al-Mashat said the occasion comes amid rapid local, regional , international developments that demonstrate the significance of the revolution , its national and moral principles.

He said celebrating the September 21 Revolution is not merely an annual occasion, but a tribute to the struggle of a people who sought to end foreign tutelage and dependence, uphold Yemen’s dignity and sovereignty, and determine its own future.

Al-Mashat said the revolution arose from the national need to end decades of corruption, mismanagement , foreign dependence, and to restore the objectives of Yemen’s September, October and November revolutions, which he said had been detached from people’s daily lives. He accused forces of influence and corruption of wasting national resources, creating crises , conflicts, and placing national decision-making under foreign influence.

He added that the September 21 Revolution adopted freedom and independence as its slogan and sought to end the era of foreign tutelage and dependence, saying it restored Yemenis’ confidence in their ability to shape their own future.

Al-Mashat said colonial , other powers opposed the emergence of an independent Yemen and plotted against it, launching a Saudi-led aggression with U.S. oversight. He said the campaign sought to restore foreign tutelage, control Yemen’s resources and suppress the revolution.

Despite the resources committed to the campaign, hundreds of billions of dollars spent, and what he described as a Saudi blockade and starvation campaign, as well as more than 250,000 airstrikes targeting Yemen’s economic, cultural and civilizational infrastructure, Al-Mashat said the aggression was met by the Yemeni people’s determination to achieve freedom and independence.

He said, “Amid these developments, we found ourselves facing a national and decisive battle that transcended all internal differences—a battle to defend the homeland, its sovereignty, and the faith-based identity of its people. The people stood alongside their army and popular committees, while loyal tribes rallied around the banner of defense. Dedicated civil servants, both men and women, also remained steadfast under these circumstances. This integration became a source of strength that thwarted the enemy’s plans, exposed its ugly face, revealed its ambitions to divide and occupy Yemen, plunder its resources, and return it to foreign tutelage.

“Meanwhile, we never closed the door to peace. Rather, we took the initiative with sincere intentions and sought to establish the trust necessary for any successful negotiations. We engaged in rounds of talks in Geneva, Kuwait, Stockholm and Muscat, and made concessions that did not compromise the country’s fundamental principles or higher interests. Our position was clear: ending the Saudi aggression and unjust blockade on our country by land, sea and air; paying salaries; enabling the people to benefit from their national resources; reopening airports and ports; exchanging prisoners; addressing the humanitarian issue; and implementing the roadmap.

“The President expressed his thanks and praise to Almighty Allah for His grace and for granting the Yemeni people victory by expelling forces affiliated with the Saudi enemy from all districts of Hodeidah Governorate and several districts of Taiz Governorate along the western coast.

“He also expressed appreciation to the steadfast Yemeni people, with special thanks to the fighters of the armed forces and security forces, as well as the martyrs’ families , wounded , prisoners, and congratulated those recently freed. He pledged to continue efforts to secure the release of all prisoners as a national, faith-based, humanitarian and revolutionary commitment.

“President Al-Mashat renewed his call to those deceived by the Saudi enemy to take advantage of the presidential amnesty and return to Yemen, standing on the right side alongside their people. He also called on all Yemenis, regardless of their affiliations, to put the interests of the country , its people first and stay away from external interests seeking to exploit everyone.

“He said, ‘By uniting all our efforts, we can fulfill the aspirations of our people , safeguard their sovereignty and independence, away from those involved in betraying the country—those who have abandoned all values and sold their homeland, their people, their present and their future. They are few, and history will condemn them.’

“He praised the armed forces and security personnel for their discipline and adherence to ethical and religious principles, in continuation of the Revolution’s approach of treating prisoners and those wounded or deceived by the Saudi enemy with moral and faith-based conduct. Their conduct demonstrated their concern for Yemeni blood, which the Saudi regime has treated cheaply and exploited in pursuit of its ambitions and the US-Zionist project in the region.

“President Al-Mashat condemned the false allegations recently promoted by the Saudi regime claiming that the Yemeni army had targeted Makkah. He added, ‘We tell you: shame on you, and your vile efforts have failed. The entire world knows the nobility of our army and knows that you are merely making unfounded claims.’

“He expressed thanks to government institutions that promptly began providing services to residents of the liberated districts, praising the smooth measures taken to normalize conditions there , the efforts to protect public and private property, with no violations of the rights of citizens in those districts.

“He affirmed that the operations carried out by the Yemeni armed forces in some coastal areas were a national operation aimed at asserting Yemeni sovereignty and expelling Saudi forces that commit grave crimes against citizens and seek to bring Yemeni territory under Saudi occupation. He said this was the inevitable fate of those who fight against people who are supposed to be their fellow countrymen.

“He said, ‘Today, the government, army and people, under the leadership of the wise leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, are moving forward, relying on Allah, to end the Saudi aggression and unjust blockade on our country; reopen airports and ports; restore its national resources; pay compensation; respect sovereignty; and withdraw from every inch of occupied territory. All these are legitimate rights and demands guaranteed by Allah and established by divine law, accepted by human nature , recognized by international conventions and laws. This option carries the lowest cost and serves the interests of all.’”

The President affirmed the Yemeni people’s right to uphold their legitimate position, just cause, and legitimate demands, namely ending the unjust Saudi aggression , blockade and restoring Yemen’s sovereignty and independence.

He added, “We also affirm that, Allah willing, our options will escalate and take more painful forms. We will not relinquish our rights, even if we have to sacrifice our lives for them. The righteous shall have the ultimate victory, and aggression shall only be directed against the wrongdoers.” He stressed that the Republic of Yemen has no ambitions or hostility toward any neighboring, Arab, or Islamic country and has not attacked any country; rather, it has been subjected to aggression, contrary to the principles of Arab and Islamic brotherhood.

He said, “We affirm to the world that Yemen’s seat at the United Nations and its representation at the annual session of the General Assembly are vacant, and that anyone claiming to represent Yemen does not represent Yemen or the position of the Republic of Yemen. Rather, they represent the voice of the Saudi enemy, which bought these impostors a false legitimacy at a hotel in Riyadh and uses its money to promote it. This is its affair and the affair of those driven by money, and it is necessary to warn of the consequences this may have in the future.”

President Al-Mashat renewed his affirmation that maritime navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab are safe and will face no danger from Yemen, except for Saudi enemy vessels, under the blockade-for-blockade equation until the Saudi regime desists from its aggression.

He added, “We affirm that genuine and just peace has been and will remain our strategic choice. Everyone must understand that peace with Yemen is the least costly option and the shortest path toward reorganizing relations based on good-neighborliness, mutual respect, and shared interests.”

He also reaffirmed Yemen’s principled position in support of the Palestinians and their just cause, which is the cause of the entire nation, as well as its support for the Muslim Iranian people , their Islamic system, its backing for Islamic resistance in Lebanon , Palestine , on all fronts of the axis of jihad and resistance, within the framework of the principle of unity of fronts, while strengthening cooperation in ways that serve the Arab and Islamic nation.

The following is the full text of the speech:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, peace and blessings be upon His faithful Messenger, Muhammad, upon his pure and righteous family. May Allah be pleased with his noble and chosen Companions.

On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the glorious September 21 Revolution, I, on my own behalf and on behalf of my colleagues in the Supreme Political Council, extend our thanks and praise to Almighty Allah, the One who prevails in His command and has power over His servants, for His grace and victory in expelling the Saudi enemy’s forces from all districts of the western coast.

We extend our congratulations and blessings to the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, may Allah protect him, on the occasion of the victory and the 12th anniversary of the blessed September 21 Revolution. We also extend our congratulations , thanks to the heroes of our capable and disciplined Yemeni Armed Forces, our security institutions, all state institutions, as well as to our esteemed scholars, loyal tribes, all intellectuals, cultural figures, politicians, media professionals, to our dear Yemeni people, both at home and abroad, men and women.

Dear Yemeni people,

This glorious anniversary comes amid rapidly changing developments and transformations at the local, regional, and international levels. All of these developments—and particularly those related to our cause—provide clear testimony and conclusive evidence of the magnitude of this revolution , its national and ethical principles.

Our commemoration of the glorious September 21 Revolution is not merely a ceremonial occasion or an annual festival. Rather, it is an annual moment of tribute to the struggle of a proud people who decided to free themselves from the grip of foreign guardianship , domination and break free from all forms of subordination, through a glorious popular revolution that placed Yemen’s dignity, standing, and sovereignty at the forefront of its objectives.

This was to ensure that no informant serving a foreign state could impose itself on this great country by military force, as is happening now, under a so-called legitimacy granted by the aggressor states at a hotel in Riyadh—a situation that will never be possible after the September 21 Revolution as long as Yemen has men willing to defend it.

Brothers and sisters,

The September 21 Revolution emerged from the heart of the national need to end decades of mismanagement, corruption, dependence on foreign powers, to restore recognition to Yemen’s revolutions of September, October, and November, whose objectives had been detached from the realities of life.

For many years, forces of influence and corruption squandered the country’s resources, manufactured crises , conflicts, and placed national decision-making at the mercy of foreign powers. They failed to build the Yemeni state envisioned since the establishment of the republic, ultimately reducing it to a fragile state that international reports classified among the world’s most corrupt, poorest, and least developed countries.

They turned Yemen—the Yemen of faith, wisdom, and civilization—into a backyard for entities that were newcomers to history, while they remained preoccupied with plundering the people’s wealth to accumulate assets and investments abroad.

The scenes of the security breakdown that preceded the revolution remain vivid in memory: Yemeni army soldiers were being slaughtered by Al-Qaeda, whose flags were flying in Marib, Jabal Ras and Al-Bayda, as well as in Arhab and parts of As Sab’in in the capital. Bombings and assassinations had become a daily occurrence threatening citizens’ security and stability, while warplanes were brought down over Sana’a by treacherous hands, collusion by those in power, and foreign dictates. The people have also not forgotten the widespread incidents of banditry and armed robbery across the country, while the ruling elites were preoccupied with consolidating their influence and surrounding themselves with their inner circles and entourage, heedless of the country’s deteriorating situation.

Dear Yemeni people,

The glorious September 21 Revolution emerged with a set of unique values, principles and characteristics. It was Yemeni in identity and affiliation, popular in its mobilization , funding, national in its leadership and decision-making. No one from abroad participated in its decision-making, nor did it extend its hand to anyone beyond its own people. Rather, it drew its strength from faith in Allah, the awareness of its people, and the will of free Yemenis who pledged themselves to change and to defend the dignity and sovereignty of their homeland.

Just as this revolution was characterized by many moral and national virtues, it was also distinguished by the fact that the word “revenge” had no place in its vocabulary. It erected no gallows, convened no field courts, and pursued neither exclusion nor vindictiveness. Instead, it made forgiveness , pardon a guiding principle and practice. It was the first revolution to engage its opponents in dialogue rather than seek to eliminate them, believing that the interests of the homeland stand above all calculations.

Brothers and sisters,

The September 21 Revolution adopted freedom and independence as its slogan and made ending the era of tutelage and dependency the cornerstone of its project and course. With Allah’s help, and under distinctive Yemeni Qur’anic leadership, it dismantled the strongholds of subservience and dependency, restoring to the Yemeni people their confidence in themselves and their ability to shape their own future—a development that many could explain only as a popular Yemeni revolution.

Because Yemen is a great country with a rich civilizational history, a strategic location, abundant resources and potential, the colonial and expansionist powers were unwilling to accept the existence of a free, dignified , independent Yemen capable of reclaiming its position and influence in its region. They therefore plotted against it and launched, in the middle of the night, an aggression led by Saudi Arabia under U.S. supervision, announced from Washington and launched from Riyadh. It exceeded all limits in its brutality and savagery. Its clear objective was to return Yemen to a state of tutelage, dominate its will , resources, and crush its liberation revolution.

Despite the enormous resources devoted to this aggression, the hundreds of billions spent on it, and the accompanying unjust Saudi blockade and starvation, as well as attacks on Yemen’s economic, cultural and civilizational infrastructure through more than 250,000 airstrikes, it was met with the will of the Yemeni people, who astonished the world with their courage , determination to achieve freedom and independence.

The unjust Saudi aggression destroyed everything built by the Yemeni people. It targeted schools, hospitals, mosques, orphanages and centers for people with disabilities, as well as bridges, roads, markets, mourning and wedding halls. Even cemeteries were not spared. It made no distinction between civilians and fighters, constituting a systematic assault on Yemen’s very existence. Our Yemeni people paid a heavy price in hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, including President Martyr Saleh Al-Sammad. Yemen consequently became, according to United Nations reports, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis as a result of the aggression and unjust Saudi blockade, the withholding of state employees’ salaries, and efforts to undermine all aspects of daily life.

O steadfast Yemeni people,

Amid these events, we found ourselves facing a national and decisive battle that transcended all internal divisions: a battle to defend the homeland, its sovereignty, and the faith-based identity of its people. The people stood alongside their army and popular committees, loyal tribes rallied around the banner of defense, and dedicated civil servants—both men and women—remained steadfast under these circumstances. This unity became one of the sources of strength that thwarted the enemy’s plans, exposed its ugly face, revealed its ambitions to partition , occupy Yemen, plunder its resources, and return it to foreign tutelage.

At the same time, we never closed the door to peace. Rather, we took the initiative with sincere intentions and sought to establish the trust necessary for the success of any negotiations. We engaged in rounds of negotiations in Geneva, Kuwait, Stockholm and Muscat, and made concessions that did not compromise the nation’s principles or supreme interests. The essence of our position was clear: ending the unjust Saudi aggression and blockade against our country by land, sea and air; paying salaries; enabling the people to benefit from their national resources; reopening airports and ports; exchanging prisoners; addressing the humanitarian issue; and implementing the “road map.”

Dear Yemeni people,

Throughout the de-escalation agreement, we consistently called in all our speeches on the aggressing Saudi regime to implement the road map and complete the requirements for peace. However, it interpreted these peace-oriented calls as weakness. With its customary hostility and deception, and under directives from Washington , Tel Aviv, it chose obstinacy , procrastination, violated its commitments, pursued aggression and wrongdoing. Taking advantage of our people’s preoccupation with supporting their brothers in Palestine, it imposed unjust measures against the Yemeni people, tightened its unjust blockade on Yemen, relocated banks, imposed restrictions on remittances by Yemeni expatriates, targeted the national currency, deepened people’s suffering, recruited agents, fomented discord, worked to form and arm military forces in preparation for a new military aggression against our people.

It also prevented a civilian aircraft from landing at Sana’a International Airport and once again attacked Yemen by bombing the airport, committing another crime in furtherance of its aggression , in defiance of continued aggression and the unjust blockade imposed on Yemen for 12 years.

Free Yemenis,

The suffering endured by our dear Yemeni people as a result of the unjust Saudi aggression and blockade against our country, and the denial of its national resources, has reached a point that can no longer be tolerated or met with inaction. Patience has run out, and the avenues available to our people have narrowed as their suffering has intensified. The Yemeni people therefore came to see continued patience with this situation as futile , a waste of time and rights. They took to the streets in unprecedented mass rallies at Al-Sabeen Square and across the provinces during the “Friday of Warning and Mobilization,” raising their voices and calling on our wise leadership to take the necessary decisions to end the aggression , blockade, liberate the land, reclaim their rights, and restore their resources.

In response to the voice of the people and their just demands, our wise leader moved us from the stage of demands to the stage of action, based on legitimate self-defense rather than aggression. We declared the equation of “blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation.” This is the battle of all Yemenis—north and south, east and west. It is a decisive battle whose inevitable and imminent outcome is victory for our great people. This is Allah’s promise to His servants in the Holy Quran: “And whoever responds to an attack with an equivalent response, and then is wronged again, Allah will surely help him. Indeed, Allah is Pardoning and Forgiving.” Allah Almighty has spoken the truth.

As we wage this battle, we recognize what you have endured, including the withholding of salaries, the drying up of resources, and attacks on the currency. We stand before your steadfastness with the utmost respect and admiration. As the September 21 Revolution breaks the blockade through its legitimate operations, it is simultaneously advancing along the path of development by strengthening agriculture, supporting local production, and encouraging Yemeni products, because the people’s steadfastness in confronting the blockade is inseparable from their steadfastness in confronting poverty and need.

We hold our heads high and move forward, placing our trust in Allah, confident in His victory, believing in the justice of our cause, patient in adversity, and steadfast in principle until the goals of our blessed September 21 Revolution are achieved: a free, dignified, independent and strong Yemen.

In conclusion, we reaffirm the following points:

• We offer thanks and praise to Almighty Allah for His favor and victory for our dear Yemeni people in expelling the Saudi enemy’s military build-ups from all districts of Al Hodeidah Province and a number of districts in Taiz Province along the western coast. We also express our appreciation to the steadfast Yemeni people, with special thanks to the mujahideen of the armed forces and security services, as well as the families of the martyrs, wounded and prisoners. We congratulate those recently freed and pledge to work for the liberation of all prisoners as a national, faith-based, humanitarian and revolutionary commitment.

• We renew our call to those deceived by the Saudi enemy to seize the opportunity of the presidential amnesty and return to the embrace of Yemen, standing on the right side alongside their people. We call on all Yemenis, regardless of their political orientations, to put the interests of the country and its people first and stay away from the interests of foreign parties plotting against us all. By uniting our efforts, we can fulfill the aspirations of our people and safeguard their sovereignty and independence, away from those involved in betraying the country, who have abandoned all values , sold their homeland, people, present and future. They are few, and history will condemn them.

• We commend the members of the armed forces and security services for their discipline , their moral and religious commitment, continuing the revolution’s approach of ethical , faith-based treatment of prisoners , those wounded and deceived by the Saudi enemy. Their conduct reflects their concern for Yemeni blood, which the Saudi regime has treated as worthless and exploited in pursuit of its ambitions and the US-Zionist project in the region.

• We condemn the false allegations promoted recently by the Saudi regime claiming that our army targeted the holy city of Mecca. We say to it: You have failed, and your vile endeavor has come to nothing. The whole world knows the nobility of our army and knows that you are merely making false claims.

• We thank the government institutions that promptly began providing services to the people of the liberated districts. We commend the smooth measures taken to normalize conditions in those districts, along with efforts to protect public and private property, with no violations of the rights of citizens in those areas.

• The actions carried out by the Yemeni armed forces in some coastal areas constitute a national operation aimed at asserting Yemeni sovereignty and expelling Saudi military build-ups that commit grave crimes against citizens and seek to subject Yemeni territory to Saudi occupation. This is the inevitable fate of those who fight against those who are supposed to be their fellow countrymen.

• Today, as a government, army and people, under the leadership of the wise leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi—may Allah protect him—we are moving forward, placing our trust in Allah, toward ending the unjust Saudi aggression and blockade against our country, reopening airports and ports, restoring its national resources, securing compensation, respecting sovereignty, and withdrawing from every inch of occupied territory. All of these are legitimate rights and demands guaranteed by Allah and affirmed by divine law, accepted by human nature, recognized by international treaties and laws. This option is the least costly and serves the interests of all.

• We reaffirm the right of our dear Yemeni people to their rightful position, just cause and legitimate demands: ending the unjust Saudi aggression , blockade , restoring their sovereignty and independence. We also affirm that our options will escalate, Allah willing, and take more painful forms. We will not abandon our rights even if we have to sacrifice our lives for them. The final outcome belongs to the righteous, and aggression is directed only against the wrongdoers.

• We affirm that the Republic of Yemen has no ambitions or hostility toward any neighboring, Arab or Islamic state. Yemen has not attacked any country; rather, it has been subjected to aggression, in a manner contrary to Islamic and Arab brotherhood.

• We affirm to the world that Yemen’s seat at the United Nations and its representation at the annual session of the General Assembly are vacant, and that anyone claiming to hold this status does not represent Yemen or the position of the Republic of Yemen. Rather, they represent the voice of the Saudi enemy, which purchased a false legitimacy for these impostors at one of Riyadh’s hotels and promotes it with its money. This is its affair and that of those driven by money, and attention must be drawn to the consequences this may have in the future.

• We affirm that maritime navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab are safe and will face no danger from Yemen, with the exception of Saudi enemy vessels within the framework of the “blockade for blockade” equation. We have the full right to do so until this criminal regime desists.

• We affirm that genuine and just peace has been and will remain our strategic choice. Everyone must understand that peace with Yemen is the least costly option and the shortest path toward reorganizing relations on the basis of good neighborliness, mutual respect and shared interests.

• We renew our affirmation of our principled and faith-based position in support of the oppressed Palestinian people and their just cause, which is the cause of the entire nation.

• We affirm our support for the Muslim Iranian people and their Islamic system, as well as our support for Islamic resistance in Lebanon and Palestine and on all fronts of the Axis of Jihad and Resistance, within the framework of the principle of unity of the fronts, our commitment to strengthening cooperation in ways that serve our Arab and Islamic nation.

Mercy for the martyrs, recovery for the wounded, freedom for the prisoners, and victory for our heroic mujahideen.

Long live the Republic of Yemen.
Long live the Republic of Yemen.
Long live the Republic of Yemen.

Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.