Another Arab country, Yemen, is in doldrums as a fierce fight for restoring stability in this strategically located country, abutting the Bab El-Mandab Strait linking Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, rages on uninterrupted.
A grand coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia is participating in the military action in Yemen against the Houthi rebels backed by Iran wholeheartedly. The Houthis actively participated in the United Nations (UN) and Gulf Cooperation Council-sponsored National Dialogue Conference, which extended Hadi’s presidency so that he can oversee the framing of a new Constitution and transition of Yemen into a federation of six regions with Sanaa and Aden holding special status. Moreover, Hadi unambiguously denounced the killing of Houthi representatives to the dialogue process and even described them as martyrs. If Hadi’s intuition is correct, “forces of evil” were trying to halt Yemen’s democratic transition from the very beginning of the structured dialogue that, according to UN’s special envoy Jamal Benomar, had helped establish a new social contract in a bitterly divided country.
Indeed, this conference was of immense significance not only to Yemen or the Arab world but the entire humanity. Yemen, in fact, is a decisive determinant of global economic growth as no less than 3.8 million barrels of crude oil and refined petroleum products passes through the international waters at Yemen’s southern tip daily. Besides, the “strategic energy-waterways” adjacent to Yemeni coast are the lifeline for Asian economy. It certainly is no mean achievement that rival — political, tribal, religious and social — groups came together to discuss and debate various solutions to the crisis that plagues Yemen. The most positive aspect of this unique dialogue was the enthusiastic participation of youth and women and representatives from balancing forces including Ansar Allah group — military wing of the Houthis, the Salafists and Southerners’ movement.
Unfortunately, the Houthis have dashed all Yemeni hopes of achieving lasting peace, prosperity and stability. Were the Yemeni citizens of all hue — including the Shiites — not seeking better living standard, secured life, improved public services and more importantly an egalitarian Constitution that promotes rule of law and provides equal rights irrespective of sect? So, what caused the Houthi volte-face? Why did they torment Hadi — by first putting him under house arrest and thereafter forcing him to flee the country — despite the fact that the consensual “Head-of-State” maintained impartiality toward all the participants in the national dialogue?
And most importantly what was the motive behind the militia’s continuous area-domination activity, in the form of expanding their control to the strategically crucial Red Sea shores, even as the international community was trying to broker a just deal between the myriad warring factions in Yemen? Are we to presume that the Houthis actually harbor an expansionist agenda?
If Iran is indeed backing the Houthis in their alleged endeavor to destabilize the strong and stable Kingdom, despite President Hassan Rouhani’s much publicized pledge of improving ties with all nations in the neighborhood, who actually holds Tehran’s string from behind?
Besides, it is a gross tactical error on the part of Tehran to seek dominant influence over Yemen because the two states are geographically non-contiguous. Above all, sustaining a long-drawn-out guerrilla warfare in Yemen’s difficult terrain — with high mountains, caves and traps — is an uphill task for an internationally cornered nation like Iran.
Is it therefore Israel (given the ultimate Zionist objective of balkanization of the Arab world along ethno-sectarian line) or some other power who gains from keeping the Arab world in a perpetual state of instability?
