... small importance that Marib is a stronghold of the moderate Yemeni Congregation for Reform (al-Islah), which Saudi Arabia is backing in the conflict. Losing Marib will deal a serious blow to al-Islah’s positions, as well as to Riyadh’s interests in Yemen.
The pandemic provides the Houthis with an opportunity to carry out offensive actions, as the external sponsors of the Hadi government, and Saudi Arabia at the top of that list, are busy with their own domestic issues and cannot pay much attention to Yemen. There has been a noticeable drop-off in the intensity of airstrikes, for example, which has afforded the Houthis the opportunity to deploy ...
... Kingdom’s limitations in its ability to resolve the Yemeni conflict to its own benefit. It is not that the military campaign proved to be a zero-sum game for Riyadh; on the contrary, Saudi Arabia managed to achieve its basic goal: it did limit the Houthi expansion into the country.
Saudi Arabia clearly set itself the goal of weakening North Yemen (the Yemen Arab Republic) by supporting the South. South Yemen (the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen) was not as dangerous for Saudis as the North, with which the Kingdom has an unresolved territorial dispute over Najran. Besides, the ...
... petroleum companies: in March-April, French Total, Austrian OMV, US Occidental Petroleum Corp, Norwegian DNO ASA and others evacuated their expatriate staff and significantly scaled back or completely shut down production in Yemen.
On March 25, when a Saudi Arabia-led coalition launched airstrikes against Shia Houthis in Yemen, oil prices rallied with Brent increasing by $3 in one day. The effect of a surprise military campaign was short-lived and didn’t produce much change in the market. Yet for as long as the security situation remains uncertain in Yemen and Saudi ...
... repeatedly uttered threats against the KSA.
The heart of the matter seems to lie in fear of the Shiite expansion.
The Saudis have long been vocal about their
concern over the prospects of a Shiite crescent encompassing Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, and Yemen could now become another ally of Iran, completing the encirclement of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi response to the Houthi rise was akin to panic, as they rushed to pressure the Arab League into deciding to set up a coalition and launch an air campaign despite the risk that this approach would merely repeat U.S. mistakes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Along with the Houthi ...
