Saudis, Iranians benefit from Houthi attack on Sanaa
Saudi Arabia and Iran appear to see the Houthis' assault against Sanaa to both their advantages in the fight against extremists in the region and resolving other issues.
The dramatic rebel assault on Sanaa and subsequent truce brought out smiles in Tehran, tears in Doha, silence from Riyadh and a wait-and-see attitude from Washington. The pieces on the Middle East chessboard continue to move. For three years, Iran’s rook and bishop in Syria and Iraq had been seriously threatened, when suddenly, in Yemen, a king was checkmated, with the Saudi-led bloc and the Turkish-Qatari alliance losing a stronghold unlike any other in the region.
The Bab al-Mandab, the strait on the west coast of Yemen, serves as the gateway to the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Iran’s Shiite allies in Yemen, the Ansarullah, or Houthis, took control of Sanaa and handed the key to Tehran, which, on the other side of the peninsula, already controls the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. The Houthis' invaluable gift makes Iran the gatekeeper of the Middle East’s strategic waterways.
Despite the importance of controlling the Bab al-Mandab, it cannot be compared to Iran, through its Yemeni proxy, playing almost unchallenged in Saudi Arabia’s backyard. Mohammed Marandi, head of Tehran University’s world studies faculty, told Al-Monitor, “Years ago, Saudi Arabia failed to combat hundreds of Houthi militants. What is it going to do today, after they have become thousands?” He further stated, “There’s no doubt the situation isn’t that good security wise, but Iran’s allies in Yemen are the majority. The southerners and the Houthis are a large segment of Yemeni society, while the others sides are not unified — the al-Islah party, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood backed by Qatar, and the president [Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi], who is Riyadh’s ally, and let’s not forget the extremists, al-Qaeda and supporters of the Islamic State [IS].”
Yet, in Saudi Arabia there are questions surrounding the recent events. With the government issuing a statement welcoming the agreement between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, many were wondering what had taken place. Abdullah Alshammri, a former Saudi diplomat and a columnist, told Al-Monitor, “What happened in Yemen last week is strange.” He said, “It reflects one of two things: either the complete absence of Saudi diplomacy from events in Saudi Arabia’s southern backyard or Saudi Arabia is happy with what’s going on, though this is hard to concede.”
