Analysis
In Yemen, Sunni states say ‘enough’ to Iran… and Obama
Disillusioned with the US president, who they see pursuing a nuclear deal at all costs, Sunni monarchies are showing a new determination to use force to thwart Tehran’s regional ambitions
US
President Barack Obama stands alongside new Saudi King Salman (R) after
arriving on Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport in the
capital Riyadh on January 27, 2015 (photo credit: AFP/ SAUL LOEB)
Fighting continued Monday in
southern Yemen, in the area around Aden, which is considered to be the
last outpost of what remains of the country’s pro-US government.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has fled to Egypt. According to
numerous reports, the Houthi rebels have managed to infiltrate the
regions north and east of Aden.
Hitting
back, Saudi planes struck various targets overnight, dealing blows to
the Houthis, who are being provided with constant military aid by the
Iranian regime. The targets bombed included weapons stores belonging to
Abdul Malik al-Houthi’s men, as well as anti-aircraft missiles.
It is difficult to gauge whether what remains
of the Yemeni army in Aden will prevent the southern port city from
falling into the hands of the Shiite rebels. While the Saudis have
deployed troops along their border with Yemen, to the north of the
country, if Riyadh and other Arab countries truly want to prevent the
occupation of Aden, a ground invasion will likely needed. It is not
clear whether such a decision is in fact in the works, and whether there
is an operational plan which would allow Saudi forces to undertake such
a mission.
But regardless of how the fighting plays out
in the days to come, it seems that something fundamental has changed in
the mindset of the moderate, Sunni monarchist Arab states. The rulers of
these countries — Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states — are
fed up with the world powers on the one hand, and the Iranian regime on
the other. The Arab kings have realized that there’s no point waiting
any longer for the American government.
A
tank bearing the flag of southern separatist movement, which was
confiscated from a military depot, is driven on a street in the southern
Yemeni city of Aden on March 27, 2015. (photo credit: AFP/SALEH
AL-OBEIDI)
The way they see it, President Barack Obama is
obsessed, for domestic political reasons, with trying to reach a
nuclear agreement with Iran, and this may be why he has abandoned the
entire Middle East to Tehran’s whims: The Iranians can run wild in
Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, but the US government will not
lift a finger as long as Tehran agrees to sign a memorandum of
understanding concerning its nuclear project.
The Arab states are also disgusted
with Russia, which assists the Shiite axis in every way possible,
including militarily. Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, went
as far as mocking Russian President Vladimir Putin in his address to the
Arab League summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh this
weekend. “Russia offers us a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria,
but yet continues to arm the regime there,” he stated dryly.
Hence the decision which dominated the Arab
League summit, namely, to set up a joint Arab military force within
three months. The goal, in other words, is to take rapid military action
to stop the Iranians. The Arab states
are tired of waiting for the US government, and they have decided to
stop Tehran’s advances in the region even at the cost of war.
A spokesman for the so-called “Arab coalition
forces to support the legitimate regime in Yemen” (better known as Saudi
Arabia) said at the weekend that the strikes will continue until
President Hadi’s return to power. The Saudis are not planning on
stopping anytime soon. If the Americans won’t do it, the Saudis will. It
seems that almost nothing has changed in the Middle East since 680 CE,
as Sunnis and Shiites continue to fight over the identity of the
successor of the Prophet Muhammad.
With regards to the nuclear agreement being
hammered out in Lausanne, the Arab states don’t have many expectations.
The Sunni powers, like Israel, understand that the deal is almost sealed
and that they must now face the consequences. Iran will continue to be a
nuclear threshold state, though without a bomb for the time being. It
will continue its conquests throughout the region.
What has changed now is the decision by the
moderate Arab states to act independently against Iran. Contrary to the
policy they followed in Syria, where a proxy army was supported by Saudi
Arabia, the action in Yemen represents a kind of watershed moment for
the Arabs. From hereon, monarchist Sunni states will use their own
power, across the Middle East, even at the cost of military conflict
with Iran. They will do so in order to prevent the establishment of a
Shiite empire in the region, and to weaken it where it has already taken
hold.
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