Middle East

Saleh Forced Out As Yemen Is Latest Country To Fall In Arab Spring Riots

From January 2011 he struggled to quell big popular protests against his rule as a spate of gunbattles pushed Yemen closer to civil war. The violence culminated in deadly clashes between forces of the Hashed tribal group and government troops. Under mounting pressure, Saleh agreed to sign a Gulf accord in November that was meant to see him gradually relinquish power.

Published

14 years ago

February 20, 2012

Geoffrey Grider

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SANAA (Reuters) – Ali Abdullah Saleh, who once compared his 33-year rule of Yemen to “dancing on the heads of snakes,” formally steps down this week after Yemenis anoint a new president in an election many hope will give Yemen a chance for democracy.

A boy looks through a hole in a banner, with an image of Yemen's outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as he performs the weekly Friday prayers during a rally to show support for him in Sanaa January 27, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

No ceremonies are expected to mark the end for Saleh, who is out of the country being treated in the United States for injuries he sustained in an assassination attempt last June.

But the election, in which Saleh’s deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is the only candidate, is expected to pave the way for Yemen to introduce political and economic reforms and give it a chance to restructure security forces currently run by the outgoing president’s relatives.

Before he flew to the United States last month, Saleh apologized for “any shortcoming” in his rule and said he planned to come back. “I will return to Sanaa as head of the General People’s Congress party,” he told senior party and government officials in a televised speech before his departure on January 22.

But fears remain that the accord, inked in Saudi Arabia, the world’s No. 1 oil exporter which shares a long porous border with Yemen, may not provide the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state with a roadmap out of misery and chaos.

The bombing of Saleh’s compound in June, an apparent assassination attempt, left Saleh with severe burns, forcing him to seek treatment in Saudi Arabia, one of Yemen’s resource-rich neighbors which had tried in vain to ease him from power.

Ever nimble, Saleh reneged on three deals to transfer power before the attempt on his life and shrugged off U.S. and Saudi pressure to stay in exile, making good on a promise to return home in September.

But international pressure redoubled in October, when the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution demanding he sign a handover plan brokered by Gulf neighbors. France and Britain hinted at European Union sanctions against him.

The United States has talked openly of its concern about who might succeed Saleh, an ally in the fight against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based wing of the militant group.

Until last year, Saleh’s grip on power seemed unshakeable. In 2010, supporters pushed for constitutional changes to allow him unlimited five-year terms as president. Speculation was high that he was grooming one of his sons as a possible successor.

But popular uprisings that toppled Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak resonated in Yemen, drawing tens of thousands to daily protests in Sanaa and in Taiz to the south, threatening his apparent dynastic ambitions.

Saleh began to offer concessions.

First, he said he would not stand for re-election in 2013 and dismissed the idea of his son succeeding him. Then he offered a referendum on a new constitution by the end of the year and a shift to a truly democratic “parliamentary system.”

But after the death of 52 protesters in March, mostly by sniper fire, a string of generals, tribal leaders, diplomats and ministers either resigned or switched their allegiance to the protesters.

They included key figures in the al-Ahmar and Sanhan tribes, kinsmen who Saleh had placed in key military and other positions.

When confronted with a power transfer deal brokered by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, Saleh was forced to accept that he has lost the ability to win back his former allies, and sign up to the deal.

OVERSAW UNIFICATION

Saleh became the ruler of North Yemen in 1978 at a time when the south was a separate communist country, and has led the unified country since the two states merged in 1990.

Opponents often complained that he failed to address the basic needs of Yemen’s people, two-thirds of whom live on less than $2 per day. Oil wealth is dwindling and water is running out, though liquefied natural gas exports began in 2009.

Yet Saleh managed to keep Western and Arab powers on side.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, Washington became more aware of Yemen as a source of foot soldiers for Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network. Bin Laden himself, though born in Saudi Arabia, could trace his roots back to Yemen’s Hadramaut region.

Saleh cooperated with U.S. authorities, and the CIA started taking action against wanted figures. But by 2007, militants had regrouped in Yemen, and in 2008 they announced that their Saudi and Yemeni wings had united under the banner of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

From 2009, the resurgent group made ever bolder attempts to stage attacks on Saudi and U.S. targets beyond Yemen, as well as targeting foreign tourists at home. At the same time, Shi’ite Muslims in the north rebelled against Saleh’s rule and southerners, feeling marginalized, began a new separatist drive.

Saudi Arabia, the United States and other allies responded by stepping up financial support to bolster Saleh’s rule.

If Saleh has been a determined survivor, he has also been a charismatic and often popular ruler with a canny understanding of the workings of Yemeni society.

Born in 1942 near Sanaa, Saleh had only limited education before joining the military as a non-commissioned officer.

His first break came when President Ahmed al-Ghashmi, who came from the same Hashed tribe as Saleh, appointed him military governor of Taiz, North Yemen’s second city. When Ghashmi was killed by a bomb in 1978, Saleh replaced him.

In 1990, an array of domestic and regional circumstances propelled North Yemen under Saleh and the socialist South Yemen state into a unification that Saudi Arabia at first opposed.

He angered Riyadh by staying close to Saddam Hussein during the 1990-91 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, leading to the expulsion of up to one million Yemenis from Saudi Arabia. Before the crisis, Kuwait had given Yemen financial aid.

But Saleh then won plaudits from Western powers for carrying out economic reforms drawn up by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and made efforts to attract foreign investors.

His General People’s Congress party swept to victory in a 1993 parliamentary election, the first held after unification. South Yemen tried but failed to secede in a brief civil war in 1994 and Saleh then proceeded to move closer to Saudi Arabia, allowing an influx of its radical Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam. source – Yahoo News

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Headline News

United States And Israel Prepare For War With Iran As Satellite Images Show A Furious Rebuilding Of Tehran’s Nuclear Program Previously Thought To Be Destroyed

Published

2 days ago

February 18, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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A military confrontation between the US and Iran could begin in the coming days and be an intensive, multi-week campaign, sources said Wednesday, despite ongoing diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran.

Last June, the United States along with Israel, launched a series of targeted bunker-busting attacks on the 3 major nuclear facilities in Iran. At the time, Trump had said that the attacked had totally and completely destroyed Tehran’s facilities, but that was not to be the case. Iran still retains much of their equipment, and is spending their time right now fortifying it against the upcoming attack.

“For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:” Jeremiah 49:37 (KJB)

Iranian leaders are rushing to prepare for war in case nuclear deal talks with Washington break down, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Tehran has deployed its forces, fortified nuclear sites, and expanded its clampdown on domestic dissent, reflecting the regime’s views that the survival of the regime is at stake. Locals reported explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran and the southern city of Shiraz on Wednesday, with footage shared on social media appearing to show pillars of smoke rising from the reported explosion site.

Final Pieces Moving Into Place For Potential Attack On Iran

FROM TWZ: A large wave of American airpower is heading toward the Middle East to bolster forces already there as U.S. President Donald Trump considers an attack against Iran. Online flight trackers are showing F-22 Raptors, F-16 Fighting Falcons, E-3 Sentry radar planes and a U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane either in transit across the Atlantic or newly arrived in Europe. In addition, a seventh Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, the USS Pinckney, has recently deployed to the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility (AOR) as well, a U.S. Navy official told us.

While we don’t know whether Trump will decide to attack Iran, these are exactly the movements we’ve been expecting, but so far not seeing, in advance of a sustained operation, both defensive and offensive. The U.S. aircraft heading east represents the most intense phase of a force plus-up that began after Trump started threatening Iran over its harsh treatment of anti-regime protesters. Taken together, the force now assembling in the Middle East, combined with the Israel Air Force’s capabilities, including hundreds of fighter aircraft, as well as USAF ‘global airpower’ bomber flights, would be enough for a major operation that could last weeks not days. We will likely see additional assets deploy in the coming days.

This intensifying buildup comes against the backdrop of another round of peace negotiations between Washington and Tehran that wrapped up Tuesday morning Eastern Time with future discussions being planned.

Online flight tracking data shows that at least a dozen F-22s have left Langley Air Force Base in Virginia at about 5 a.m. Eastern, heading east. Their first destination is most likely Lakenheath Air Base in the U.K., a major transit hub for aircraft moving between the U.S. and Middle East. However, we don’t know that for sure and CENTCOM has declined to talk about aircraft, ship and troop movements.

F-22s are primarily America’s most capable air-to-air fighter, but they can also be used to destroy enemy air defenses and strike other ground targets. Raptors helped protect B-2A Spirit stealth bombers during last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. It should be noted that four days before Midnight Hammer, F-22s made a similar transit across the Atlantic and took part in the mission.

On the sea, with the addition of the Pinckney, the Navy now has 12 surface combatants in the area, including the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and its three Arleigh Burke class escorts, three independently deployed Arleigh Burke class ships in the CENTCOM region and two in the Mediterranean, and three Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) also now in the CENTCOM area. There are also nuclear submarines there, with at least one accompanying each CSG, as well as likely guided missile submarines (SSGN), but the Navy does not disclose the location of those boats. READ MORE

Is the United States about to strike Iran?

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“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

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Headline News

OVER THE TARGET: Supreme Leader Of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Has Fled To Underground Bunker As Threat Of Airstrikes From The United States Heats Up

Published

4 weeks ago

January 24, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has gone underground, reportedly hiding out in a bunker out of fear of being wiped out by US airstrikes — as the USS Abraham Lincoln steams toward the Persian Gulf.

We are living in a time of kings and kingdoms shaking before judgment, as neither flesh nor blood but principalities are visibly at war on the earth. In today’s headlines, there are multiple reports that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has moved to a fortified underground shelter because of the growing threat of military action from the United States, including a U.S. carrier strike group steaming toward the Middle East.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6 (KJB)

The Iranian regime, for decades antagonistic to both Israel and the U.S., now faces internal collapse and external pressure. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has bluntly stated its force has its “finger on the trigger” and remains ready to respond, while Iranian officials have warned that “any attack on Khamenei would be treated as all-out war.” Usually, Iran is just bluffing, and in an head-on confrontation they usually back down. But one of these days, mark my words, they won’t, and we’ll see some real damage done in the Middle East.

Iran’s supreme leader retreats underground, warned of likelihood of US airstrikes

FROM THE NY POST: The 86-year-old supreme leader has moved to a fortified shelter in Tehran connected to a series of elaborate underground tunnels after senior military officials warned of the increasing likelihood of an imminent US attack, Iran International reported, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Khamenei has left his youngest son Masoud Khamenei, 53, in charge of running the day-to-day management of the Islamic Republic, the Jerusalem Post reported. Masoud Khamenei’s emergency duties include being the primary communication channel with the regime’s executive branch, according to the report.

Iran has deemed the likelihood of US airstrikes to be high after President Trump announced Friday that warships were headed to the Middle East as a warning to the ayatollah, following a continuing war of words between the two leaders in recent days.

Trump boasted Friday that the US Navy was sending a massive “armada.”

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which includes three destroyers, is currently motoring from the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf region of Iran, Stars and Stripes reported. Publicly, Tehran has not backed down from heightened tensions with the US as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian threatened to treat any attack against the supreme leader by the US or Israel as “an all-out war against us.”

It’s not the first time the supreme leader has holed up underground. Khamenei also went silent after retreating to a bunker last June, during the 12-Day War with Israel. He reportedly had even drafted a list of potential successors in the event he was killed in the short-lived conflict.

His latest X post this year threatened to go after both internal and international “criminals” who he claimed were responsible for the widespread protests that have gripped the nation since Dec. 28. Those protests — against a disastrous economy that came on the back of the worst drought the country has seen in decades — have seen regime forces gun down at least 3,000 civilians, with some groups claiming the death toll as high as 20,000. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

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“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Headline News

After Backing Down On His Pledge To Defend Iranian Protestors, President ‘TACO’ Trump Sends The USS Abraham Lincoln And Three Destroyers To Middle East

Published

4 weeks ago

January 24, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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President TACO has sent the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Middle East, will he finally keep his promise to the Iranian people and help them topple regime?

A senior Iranian official stated that Iran will treat any attack “as an all-out war against us,” on Friday, ahead of the arrival of a United States military aircraft carrier strike group and other assets in the Middle East region, which is expected in the coming days. “This military buildup – we hope it is not intended for real confrontation – but our military is ready for the worst-case scenario. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran,” said the senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.” Jeremiah 49:35 (KJB)

Donald Trump promised the hundreds of thousands of Iranian protestors that he would launch airstrikes on the regime if mass killings began, and that is one of the main reasons why the Iranian had the courage to stand up for their freedom. Then the regime turned off the internet, the mass killings began, but the TACO president did not launch the strikes he promised. Proof of the mass deaths are easily found on social media, and someone as internet savvy as Trump could easily find that proof. So now he has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln to the region, and only time will tell if he will actually keep his promise to the Iranian people.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is arriving in the Middle East

FROM WSLS NEWS 10: The Pentagon has been sending U.S. military assets into the Middle East this week, including an aircraft carrier group and its thousands of troops, as President Donald Trump indicates he is maintaining the possibility of strikes on Iran amid its crackdown on protests.

“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump told reporters Thursday, saying they were going “just in case.”

Trump has threatened military action if Iran carried out mass executions of prisoners or killed peaceful demonstrators, but he recently backed away, claiming Iran halted the hangings of 800 detained protesters. He has not elaborated on the source of the claim, which Iran’s top prosecutor called “completely false.”

However, Trump appears to be keeping his options open, saying Thursday aboard Air Force One that his threatened military action would make last year’s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites “look like peanuts” if the government proceeded with planned executions of some protesters.

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying destroyers left the South China Sea and began heading west earlier this week, a Navy official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said Friday that the Lincoln strike group was in the Indian Ocean.

When they arrive in the region, those warships would join three littoral combat ships, which were in port in Bahrain on Friday, as well as two other U.S. Navy destroyers, which were at sea in the Persian Gulf.

The arrival of the carrier strike group would bring roughly 5,700 additional service members. The U.S. has several bases in the Middle East, including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which hosts thousands of American troops and is the forward headquarters for U.S. Central Command. READ MORE

Will President TACO Trump attack Iran in 2026?

According to some reports, Israel believes President Trump is preparing to strike Iran. The panel discusses the possibility and its potential outcomes.