An Eye-Opening Saudi Initiative, Op-ed

The peace initiative announced by Saudi Arabia to end the conflict in Yemen came as a litmus test of facts and positions.

Despite the campaign of support and warm international reception for the initiative, the Houthis’ rejection disappointed many.

This rejection confirms and exposes the dependency and loyalty that binds this group to the Iranian mullahs’ regime. The regime does not want this war to end now, especially with a Saudi initiative that puts the interests of the Yemeni people above all other considerations.

If anybody doubts this tie-up, they should read the statements of the Iranian ambassador in Sana’a, Hasan Irlu. The ambassador was not tardy in commenting on Twitter, saying that Saudi Arabia’s initiative for Yemen would be a “permanent war project” and “continuation of the occupation” and not an end to the war.

He added that a “real initiative” must include “a complete cessation of the war, the complete lifting of the blockade, an end to the Saudi occupation, the withdrawal of its military forces, the non-support of mercenaries and takfiris with money and weapons,” as well as a “political dialogue among Yemenis without any foreign interference. ”

Obviously, these are specific and detailed Iranian conditions dictated to Al Houthi and his group. This is also a case of the Iranian ambassador going beyond his diplomatic role, attacking the sovereignty of another state and intervening in its affairs in a brash and brazen way. But he knows well, before he writes, that he is functioning within a field of action established between the master and the lapdog.

His “conditions” are only a stumbling block that will prevent the Houthis from adopting a position other than the one imposed on them by Tehran. The Iranian ambassador has not given the Houthis any chance to determine their position. He even went further, making it clear how real the ties of dependence are.

So, he chose to elaborate on the Iranian mullahs’ point of view and their conditions for resolving the turmoil, even though Tehran, through its foreign ministry, has officially declared its support for any peace initiative involving the “end of aggression,” without going into details, and seems to have left this task to its ambassador in Sana’a.

There is no question that the Saudi initiative reflects a genuine desire on the part of the Kingdom to end the turmoil. It includes a UN-supervised nationwide ceasefire, easing the siege on the port of Hodeidah, reopening Sana’a airport to a set number of direct regional and international destinations, and reviving political talks to resolve the crisis in Yemen.

But the crux of the problem is not related to this or any other initiative to resolve this crisis. It has to do with the position of the Iranian mullahs. The mullahs want to maintain their proxy influence in Yemen as a negotiating tool with the great powers on the issues of Iran’s regional role.

In other words, the mullahs believe that easing the unrest in Yemen is not entirely in their interest. On the contrary. What Iran needs is to fire up the Yemen front to ratchet up the pressure on Saudi Arabia and Western allies.

Western allies, especially the US, are under pressure to fast-track a response to Iran’s conditions related to the nuclear deal, including lifting US sanctions against Iran. Al Houthi’s spurn of the Saudi initiative runs completely counter to US efforts to encourage the group to engage seriously in conflict resolution efforts in Yemen, following Al Houthi’s group US terror delisting.

It has been evidenced that the key to resolving the unrest in Yemen lies not in Sana’a, but in Tehran. Talks with the proxy or more guarantees will not achieve the desired goal because it does not call the shots.

The great powers must therefore take responsibility for countering this indirect Iranian threat to Saudi Arabia’s security and sovereignty. Indeed, the connection between the Houthis’ position and the Iranian mullahs is no longer a secret.

In a tweet, jim Risch, a Republican member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the Houthis to demonstrate their seriousness and that of their Iranian backers in order to achieve a concrete peace. So everyone is well aware of the deep collusion between the Houthis and the Iranians.

Evidence analysis confirms that the mullahs want Saudi Arabia to remain “stuck in the Yemen war quagmire,” as Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has stated.

The mullahs want their Yemeni Houthi proxies to work to keep the kingdom busy with the Yemen war, drain its resources, destabilize it and show its inability to stand up to militias that everyone knows are armed and paid for from the mullahs’ arsenals and treasuries.

All this is in Iran’s interest in the context of regional rivalry and conflict. Khamenei’s words during the celebrations of the Persian Year 1400 revealed the mullahs’ strategy regarding perpetuating the conflict in Yemen.

This is where it became clear that Khamenei wants to prove to his supporters his point about the failure of alliances between the US and the GCC countries. The current situation in Yemen, he claims, would be the consequence of trust in the US. According to Khamenei, former President Barack Obama’s administration would have given “the green light to start the war in Yemen. ”

“The Yemeni issue and the inability of the Saudi government is an example of the result of the allies’ trust in the US,” Khamenei said. “The Americans do not know this region and its people and they always make mistakes,” he added.

These Iranian positions, which reveal the magnitude and level of danger posed by the mullahs’ regime, are part of the regime’s move to chip away at the trust between the US and its regional allies. This is an effort to dismantle this alliance and destroy its foundations so that the US forces will eventually withdraw from the Gulf region just like the mullahs want it to be.

My opinion as a political observer is that the most important outcome of the brave Saudi initiative is that it brings everyone face to face with their historical responsibilities.

It has exposed the falsity of Al Houthi’s claims about his desire to end the unrest and the conflict. It has revealed to all that he is under the thumb of the Iranian mullahs’ regime. It has demonstrated how the mullahs are bargaining with Yemeni blood and their sordid desire to package the security of this great Arab country with the interests of the mullahs’ regime.

All in all, the ball is in the court of the Houthis who have to prove their patriotism and disavow their allegiance to the mullahs, but they are indeed failing in this test. But the biggest lesson is for President Biden’s administration. It should be understood that the responsibility for ending the war in Yemen now lies with Tehran, from where the Houthis get their dictates.