It has been a year since the Saudi-led coalition militarily intervened in Yemen against the toppling of the country’s legitimate government. The coalition has achieved more in a year than the Americans have done in Afghanistan in 15 years.
By the time of the first coalition airstrike, Houthi militias and Saleh’s forces had seized most of Yemen, and the rebels had declared the formation of a Cabinet and their rejection of UN Security Council resolutions.
The nightmare became a reality — another country in Iran’s orbit, besieging Gulf countries from the south while they are besieged by Iraq and Syria from the north. The rebels had also seized the arsenal of the Yemeni Army, which included Scud missiles that could gravely threaten Saudi cities.
The military operation immediately destroyed the rebel political system and prevented Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah forces and Iraqi militias from entering Yemen, as they have done in Iraq and Syria. The coalition imposed an aerial and naval siege. Yemeni ports depended on efficient international inspections. Last year, the US, French and Australian naval forces prevented ships carrying arms from Iran from reaching Yemen, but they did not prevent humanitarian aid shipments.
The war was the only option to prevent the IRGC and Hezbollah from occupying Yemen and turning it into a front in a major regional conflict.
Liberating most Yemeni provinces during this year of war is a huge military achievement in a rugged country that resembles Afghanistan in its terrain and tribal divisions. The war is ongoing, but at a slower pace as the legitimate government’s forces approach the capital Sanaa.
This is the last battle and this is why Saleh and the Houthis agreed to negotiate in Kuwait and sent a team of representatives to the Saudi capital. Everyone hopes that there will be signs of a political solution to end the war and that everyone will work toward restoring legitimacy and implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Prior to the coup by the Houthis and Saleh, the Yemeni people had finalized their political project under UN auspices. They had also approved electing a transitional government and begun writing a constitution. However, Saleh and the Houthis dared occupy Sanaa.
It is hoped that the negotiations turn the clock back, adopt the approved international solution and complete a political transition to establish a representative Parliament that can be elected later and also under UN auspices. Then the Yemeni crisis will come to an end.
The rebels thought that they could seize power in Yemen, and that Saudi Arabia and its allies would not deter them militarily. The rebels miscalculated and brought the region’s governments to meet and agree to confront Iran and its allies in Yemen.
Many were surprised by Saudi and Emirati military capabilities to engage in a war like this while also operating on the ground to rebuild and recruit Yemeni forces.
The war represents multiple confrontations with several goals. The first is to prevent a militant regime similar to Hezbollah’s in Lebanon. The second is to protect Saudi Arabia from the south, and thus prevent a hostile front that will trigger a war that may last years or even decades. The third is to voice rejection of superpowers’ submission to Iran’s regional expansionism.
