Operation Decisive Strom led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its 10 coalition partners against the Shia sponsored and trained Houthi militants in Yemen is going through air strikes. Riyadh, Islamabad, Istanbul, Tehran and Cairo are very busy in the lengthy spells of diplomatic activities. Stakes of socio-economic bounties, geo-political superiority and geo-strategic maneuverings are very high and complicated and drive of conflict resolution is still far away.
Yemen the Afghanistan of Middle East has once again flashed the unending tussle of so-called Sunni States and Shiite Crescent as usually projected by the Western media outlets. It is now being carried out through fierce proxy wars in different parts of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Middle East which is a bitter reality.
Shiite rebels Houthis have taken over the capital, Sanaa, and much of the north, and are storming south in a bid to secure their hold on the country. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was first driven out of Sanaa, then tried to make a last stand in the southern city of Aden. Now he fled the city and the country.
Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says two Iranian warships have secured in the Gulf of Aden where Saudi Arabia is continuing air strikes against the Houthi rebels. The Alborz destroyer and Bushehr logistic vessel have arrived off the Yemen coast for patrolling and the Red Sea. He says the warships will ensure safety of Iran’s shipping lines and protect Iran’s interests in the region. Now, Saudi Arabia and GCC is not at comfortable terms with Iran.
Geo-Political and Geo-Strategic Landscape of Yemen
Yemen’s national history has been inflicted by a sad chronicle of endless wars and conflicts between ruling contenders of different hues and persuasions, both Sunnis and Shias.
International Business Times (March-April 2015)
According to International Business Times, Iran and Hezbollah have trained Houthi militias to harm Yemenis. Geo-political and geostrategic landscape of Yemen is complicated. Right now, Yemen’s former autocratic leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled for nearly 40 years until his ouster in 2011 is fighting along with Houthis. So, self-interest overruled the sensitivity of so-called Sunni-Shiite divide in the country. Around 30 percent of the population is Shiite belonging to the Zaidi branch of Shiism and the rest are Sunnis. Already, some Sunni tribesmen in the north are fighting back against Houthi domination, some of them by allying with al-Qaeda, some backed by neighboring regional countries. Also, the military and government are fragmented from city to city across the country, some units and officials backing Saleh or Houthis, some backing Hadi.
Perpetual Turmoil for Centuries
It was ruled by different monarchies and fiefdoms. It remained in perpetual turmoil for centuries. The British grabbed southern Yemen in 1839 as they needed coal, which the region had in plenty, for their steamships sailing between England and India. In 1962, the royalists of the Mutawakkilite monarchy formed a state in Northern Yemen after the death of the last Zaidi Imam, Ahmed bin Yahya Al-Mutawakil, who had ruled the land till then.
Role of Arab Nationalism
The waves of Arab nationalism was one of the main reasons for the downfall of last king of Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, Muhammad al-Badr, and put an end to the rule of Zaidi Imams who had been kings of Yemen for the most part of past one thousand years. Jamal Abdel Nasser, the then socialist Egyptian president, backed the republicans in Yemen through military support while Saudis, along with Britain, supported the deposed Zaidi king who spearheaded insurgency against the new government and a new civil war ensued.
1962: A Turning Point
In 1962, Zaidi Shias were friends while nationalists, socialists, and communists were pronounced as foes by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 2015, they have been declared as foes and an imminent danger to Saudi sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Emergence of South Yemen
The British left Aden in 1967, and a new state of South Yemen emerged. Efforts began for the unification of the north and the south, which finally succeeded in 1990, when the United Republic of Yemen was proclaimed with Ali Abdullah Saleh as president.
Main Players of the Looming Conflict
| Supporters of Yemen Rebels | Detractors of Yemen Rebels |
| State Actors | State Actors |
| Iran | Saudi Arabia |
| Syria | United Arab Emirates |
| Iraq | Kuwait |
| Lebanon | Qatar |
| Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco | |
| Non State Actors | Non State Actors |
| Houthis/ Ansarullah | Islamic Fighters |
| Hizbullah | |
| Al-Qaeda/ISIS | |
| Mediators: Pakistan, Turkey |
Zaidiyyah known as ‘Fivers’
The Zaidiyyah, are also known as ‘Fivers’, are named after Zaid ibn Ali, the grandson of Hussain ibn Ali. Zaidis follow the jurisprudence that is more similar to Hanafi School as compared to the ‘Twelver’ Shia school of jurisprudence.
Start of Theological Movement in 1992
Houthis, mostly Zaidis, started as a theological movement in 1992 and spearheaded insurgency in 2004 against the then president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who himself belongs to the Zaidi sect. The Houthis, along with students and Joint Meeting Parties, participated in 2011 Yemeni revolution that followed the Tunisian revolution.
GCC Initiative
Under a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative former Mansour Hadi Saleh had given up power. The GCC initiative sought to launch national reconciliation, write a new constitution and bring about democratic elections in Yemen. The international community also backed the initiative and called on all parties in Yemen to participate in the national dialogue aimed at reaching a political settlement to the country’s ailments. But the Houthi movement, backed by Iran, derailed such talks and took over the capital September, 2014. All attempts could not succeed due ill wishes of Iran and its allies.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal
According to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal the Houthi rebels and their ally former president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, “decided with the support of Iran to destabilise Yemen.
“We have evidence that Iran trained Houthi militias on operating fighter jets,” Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri told reporters, noting that militia cannot on their own have picked up the skills.
| Different Civil Conflicts | Causes |
| Libya | It is being torn apart by fighting between the armed groups that toppled Muammar Qaddafi over who controls the oil resources. |
| Egypt | It has been in crisis due to a political struggle for control of the state between the army and its backers on the one side and proponents of political Islam on the other. |
| Palestine | Illegal occupation of Israel remained the main cause of conflict between Palestine and Israel authorities. |
| Tunisia | It has been tangled between the socio-economic prosperity and acute poverty and societal alienation. |
Main Causes
The war in Yemen has been portrayed by the media as an offshoot of a Shia-Sunni rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It is rivalry but not sectarian in its essence. It is not the war of faiths, beliefs, ideologies and prophecies. It is a tussle over territory, resources and political power between the Houthis, Ali Saleh and a section of the tribal confederacy on one side and Hadi’s ousted regime and other tribes, including the Hashids, on the other.
Yemen has acute shortage of water resources. It has also negligible energy resources for a population of 25 million people, one in four of whom is clinically undernourished. The fractious tribes, decades old political fault lines and the extreme poverty make Yemen not exactly a cake walk for any army as invaders from the Romans to Nasser’s Arab republicans discovered at their peril.
Global Mass Media Slant
Global media especially western media always projected every conflict in the Middle East as a conflict of religions and sects. The US led invasion to Iraq opened the gate of blame game among the different sects within the same religion. A comparative study of different conflicting realities shows that sectarianism is usually the result, not the cause, of a wide variety of tensions between states, tribes, regional identities, classes and ethnic groups, or between the haves and the have-nots in society. These tensions exist throughout the world. But in Middle East these are unamenable.
Houthi rebels would not have got so far without the support of the former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is angling to return to power, or at least show that the country is ungovernable without him pulling the strings. Nor would the Houthi advance have aroused so much attention without the fact that the rebels have the support of Iran.
| Regional Countries | Causes |
| Iraq | US-led invasion in Iraq further strengthened Shia power and Iranian influence in Iraq. |
| Lebanon | It got immense power and strategic cushion and parallel process was repeated in Lebanon after US led invasion in Iraq. The rise of the Iranian-backed Hizbullah armed militia and a vacuum in the Sunni leadership after the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former prime minister further deepened Shia power in the country. |
| Syria | Iran’s support of the beleaguered regime of president Bashar Al Assad has been one of the main reasons of regional conflict prolonged the Syrian war into its fifth year. It fastened a sectarian war. |
| Bahrain | It polluted the minds and souls of common people through propaganda missions and secretive infiltrations resultant societal disharmony and political chaos. |
| Results | The rise of Iran and its manipulation of Shiite populations to further the ends of the Iranian regime gave a fiercer sectarian colouring to the interstate rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Fierce proxy wars have been fought on different soils in the region and around the globe even in Pakistan. |
Rise of Shiite Crescent and Regional Spillovers
Famous Iranian revolution has been the live-wire to Shia influence in the region since its inception. Afterwards, its hidden agenda and ideologies provoked many conflicts in the region. It has been remained active in the times of war and peace. Political manipulation, conspiracies, infiltrations, propaganda techniques and so-called religious motivation made it a sacred mission to be executed for the glory of its influence in the world especially in GCC and MENA. Sectarian narratives were projected as the only mean for survival and political bargaining.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Stance
Saudi Arabia attacked the Yemeni rebels on the request of deposed President Abd-Rabbuh Manṣour Al-Hadi. Saudi Arabia first air strikes on the Houthi strongholds in Yemen have fully destroyed all Houthi air defences, Al Dailami base, SAM missiles batteries and four warplanes, without any losses to the Saudi Air Force. It is a courageous move by the Kingdom, which would help restore the legitimate government in Yemen and protect this country.
Saudi led coalition air strikes were a clear message to Iran that it must end its strategy of expanding its regional influence through Shiite proxy groups. It described it as necessary to confront an unacceptable growing threat. Houthis wild adventurism threatened sea trade through the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia is taking all possible measures to mitigate the regional repercussions of Shia Iran which is currently supporting Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. Moreover, the Iran nuclear deal may reduce Saudi Arabia’s pre-dominated role in the region. 40 per cent of the Saudi armed forces personnel are of Yemeni origin and that is why Riyadh looks towards Pakistan for the army. There are already about 750-800 Pakistani servicemen in Saudi Arabia but none are combat troops but according to London Post, a large number of Pakistani soldiers are already in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s action in support of the Yemeni government is motivated by the desire to uphold its important status in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and its allies wanted to make sure that it could control the Bab Al-Mandeb, the Gulf of Aden, and the Socotra Islands. The Bab Al-Mandeb is an important strategic chokepoint for international maritime trade and energy shipments that connects the Persian Gulf via the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea via the Red Sea. It is just as important as the Suez Canal for the maritime shipping lanes and trade between Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Saudi Arabia requested five countries including Pakistan and Egypt to provide assistance to the Saudi forces in the action. Egypt and Pakistan have both asked their navies to move towards the Yemen coast to defend the Saudi Arabian maritime frontiers to stop any incursion.
Saudi Arabia-led coalition operation Decisive Storm is not meant to destroy the Houthis or even marginalise them but it intends to bring all the Yemeni parties back on the dialogue table, since it is known to everyone that the Gulf States have no ambitions in Yemen. Rather, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, along with Egypt, are only eager to ensure Yemen’s safety and security. According to Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry Saudi-led offensive would continue until Yemen is returned to security, stability and unity. The Government of Saudi Arabia is not happy with the decision of Pakistan’s Parliament and hoping for its revisit.
UAE Stance
It is a bitter reality that Iran is meddling in Yemen’s conflict and elsewhere in the region. Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed added at a news conference that a Saudi-led coalition now attacking Iranian-allied Houthi fighters in Yemen wanted a UN Security Council resolution requiring all parties to take part in dialogue and imposing a ban on arms purchases by Houthis and other groups that are out of line.
“Iran is not carrying out this activity only in Yemen; it is doing the same activity in Lebanon, in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan and in Pakistan he added.
UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have very close and trustworthy bilateral relations with Pakistan. But the not so cleared stance taken by joint session of its Parliament left some important questions. As the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr Anwar Gargash, said, the parliament’s rejection of the opportunity to join the coalition that is restoring order in Yemen was an “unexpected” response.
The Saudi-led coalition is engaged in a battle to restore regional security and stability. It is at times like these that one appreciates the support of friends. The Pakistani parliament’s decision stipulating “neutrality” while expressing “genuine support” for Saudi Arabia is, as Dr Gargash said, “contradictory”.
According to UAE and GCC allies the Pakistani parliament’s resolution is unwise, and certainly not in its interests, and hurts the brotherly bonds with the Gulf States. Shared ties have always been based on the sense of common values.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Currently, 7,000 Pakistani companies and 12 trade agencies operate out of the UAE. According to Pakistan Embassy UAE (2014) the investments of Pakistanis have reached to $ 25 billion (Rs.84 billion) in UAE.
Moreover, investments by Pakistani nationals in the UAE totalled $23 billion (Dh84.4 billion) while the UAE’s trade with Pakistan have reached $9 billion i.e. Dh33 billion. According to Dubai Land Department (DLD)’s 2013 figures, Pakistani investors were third highest buyers among foreigners of property in the emirate’s Dh114 billion transactions last year. In Q1 2014, DLD said Pakistani investors spent around Dh2 billion to buy property in the emirate.
According to the data of SBP and Board of Investment (BOI), the UAE is the biggest investors in Pakistan. Its collective investment in the country has reached to $US 21 billion in 2012-2013. Moreover, in the last decade, the UAE emerged as the biggest investor in Pakistan. The major proportions of the UAE investments (private & public) came from banking, telecommunication, information technology, ICT, electronics, real estate, agricultural and corporate farming.
UAE has been a major donor as well as supporter of all kinds of assistance to Pakistan in many diversified sectors i.e. social development (education, health, cleaning drinking water, sanitation, infrastructure, housing etc.), economic development (grants, soft loans, development packages to lessen the energy deficit, budgetary deficit and hosting of many investment road-shows and Friends of Pakistan Donor Conferences in Abu Dhabi & Dubai), infrastructural development (the UAE-PAP is the prime example), political support (always appreciate the government of Pakistan front-line role in the war against terrorism, stand with the people of Pakistan in case of any external aggression etc.). UAE Humanitarian assistance in far flung areas of Pakistan have paid dividends and shown good results.
Till now, over 100 projects worth millions of dollars focusing on major areas of social development including health, education, water and infrastructure have been completed which are significantly contributing to the development of these sectors in these areas.
More than 27 UAE companies are working in Pakistan. These are actively participating in the socio-economic prosperity of Pakistan. These have already elevated the levels of production, service and value-addition. These are Telecommunications (Etisalat, Warid, Wateen and U-phone due to which Pakistan experiences the connectivity revolution. UAE banks are also very active (Bank Al Falah under Abu Dhabi Group, Dubai Islamic Bank & Emirates Global Islamic). UAE real estate companies like Emaar Properties Group, Al-Ghurair Giga and Al Habtoor Trading Enterprises, Bahria Emirates, DAMAC and Al-Ghuran are game changer, providing the best quality of service and execution.
In the field of Airlines UAE Etihad Airways, Emirates Airlines and FlyDubai has made international journey a remarkable experience. It has introduced a healthy competition. Etihad Airways and Emirates Airlines are the two most popular airlines in the country.
In the insurance sector its Al-Falah Insurance Company, Emirates Investment Group, Takaful Pakistan Limited Insurance industry in the country are important for international exposure.
The above given data clearly show that Pakistan association and interests are attached with likely minded countries i.e. Saudi Arabia and UAE led coalition.
Turkey’s Stance
Turkey supported the Saudi-led military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen and called on the militia group and its “foreign supporters” to abandon acts which threaten peace and security in the region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded that “Iran and the terrorist groups must withdraw” from Yemen. But after his recent visit to Tehran, it softened its stance and preferred a joint diplomatic effort to bring peace in Yemen.
Regional Dynamics
Iran has described the intervention as “a dangerous step” that violated “international responsibilities and national sovereignty”. Syria called it “blatant aggression” in Yemen, while Iraq rejected the use of force in Yemen saying military intervention by Saudi Arabia and Arab allies would further complicate the situation in the region. Hizbullah also spoke out against the bombing. It shows conflicting realities in the GCC and MENA.
Pakistan’s Stance
The two houses of Pakistan’s parliament adopted a 12 point unanimous resolution on the Yemen conflict, calling upon the government to maintain neutrality so as to play a proactive diplomatic role fuse the crisis. It advised the government to stay neutral on the Yemen conflict. It expressed unequivocal support for Saudi Arabia and zero tolerance for any violation of its territorial integrity or any threat to the two Holy Mosques (Harmain Sharifain).
1. Unconditional Support to Saudi Arabia
It further said Pakistan would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Saudi Arabia and its people in case of any threat. It also desired that the government should take steps to move the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Yemen. It called upon the warring factions in Yemen to resolve their differences through dialogue.
2. Regional & International Peace Efforts
It supported regional and international efforts for restoration of peace and stability in Yemen and underscored the need for continued efforts by the Government of Pakistan to find a peaceful solution to the crisis while promoting the unity of Muslim Ummah in cooperation with the leaders of other Muslim countries.
3. Warning to Terrorist Groups and Non-State Actors
Moreover, the resolution expressed deep concern over the increasing threats posed by different terrorist groups and non-state actors to the security and stability of the region and advised the government to enhance its friendship and cooperation with the GCC and all other regional countries to combat extremism and terrorism.
4. Stand with the Solidarity & Integrity of Saudi Arabia
The civil and military leadership of Pakistan has decided to act proactively to ward off any threat to the solidarity and integrity of Saudi Arabia and exploit all its resources to protect the brotherly country from any external threat to its security. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s office any threat to Saudi Arabia would ‘evoke a strong response’ from Islamabad.
The civilian and military leadership of Pakistan has also urged the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the world community to play a constructive and proactive role for finding a political solution to the crisis in the Middle East for the sake of establishment of peace and stability in the region.
Different Stakes
| Oil Imports | Oil import is China’s first stake in Yemen. It has been trading in oil with Yemen since 2005, and had a stake in 8 percent of Yemen’s total production under Hadi. Its growing energy needs are raising the profile and importance of all petroleum producers, including marginal producers such as Yemen. It is perhaps the main reason Chinese companies continue to expand their operations in Yemen, in spite of growing insecurity and other issues facing the country. Over the past few years, there have been several oil exploration and production agreements between the two countries. Since 2005, Chinese state owned enterprise Sinopec Corp has been operating in Yemen’s exploration and production sectors. Today, along with another Chinese company Sinochem Corp, Sinopec has a combined equity production of approximately 20,000 barrels per day, eight percent of Yemen’s total production. |
| Larger Ambitions | For China Yemen’s strategic position provides it with an opportunity to implement one of its larger ambitions: to project power in the Horn of Africa. Beijing’s growing connection with Khartoum and Nairobi are a crucial part of this strategy. |
| Promotion of Blue-Water Economy | Yemen’s position on the southwestern side of the Arabian Peninsula, and near the Suez Canal, appeals policymakers in Beijing. Chinese presence in the Panama Canal and Egypt’s Suez Canal would place a premium on strengthening footholds in or near strategic communication and commercial chokepoints across the world. Yemen’s position fits this larger pattern of Chinese strategic thinking. |
| Defense Cooperation | It offered Yemen’s defense ministry an $8 million grant in 2014. China has explicitly provided Yemen with aid money to help those fleeing from Houthi violence as early as 2009. |
| Road and Belt Initiative | Road and Belt’ initiative gives an added strategic dimension insofar as the Silk Route passes through the Red Sea due to which Yemen has strategic importance. |
| Investments | Chinese government has been encouraging its companies to start investing in Yemen. Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has been operating in Yemen since 1999. The two countries have also established several cooperative projects, such as the Chinese-Yemeni steel company Star. |
| Infrastructural Development | China took part in the construction of a 266 km road between Sana’a and Hodeidah in 1950. In 2012 China National Corporation for Overseas Economic Cooperation (CCOEC) agreed to develop three natural gas-fired power plants in the country. It recently agreed to help build four 5,000 megawatt power plants using coal and diesel in the cities of Belhaf and Ma’abar. In 2014 Beijing was also selected in a $508 million project to expand two container ports in Aden and Mokha, in which China reportedly agreed to also provide a soft loan to finance the projects. |
| Relief Assistance | In 2009 for instance, China provided relief aid of 5 million yuan to displace Yemenis who fled the fighting between the government army and Houthi rebels in Saada province. The government in Beijing also donated $5 million in medical supplies to the Yemeni-Chinese Friendship Hospital, a collaborative project that was initiated before the regime change. In 2012. Besides an earlier deal to allocate 50 million yuan to promote its economic and technical partnership with Yemen, late last year China also decided to offer a $8 million grant to Yemen’s defense ministry, along with a $16.4 million general purpose grant, and a $30 million long-term interest-free loan. |
Alleged Reports of Al Arabia & Australian Broadcasting Corporation
On the contrary, Al Arabia, the Saudi-owned channel in a broadcast claimed that Pakistan would provide air and naval support to the Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation commented that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had entered into a tacit agreement with the Saudi king, assuring Pakistan’s full-fledged military support. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed that Saudi Arabia had sought fighter jets, ground troops and navy vessels to join coalition forces in their operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Latest Diplomatic Maneuverings
After different spells of tugs of war Turkey and Iran agreed on the need for a political solution to Yemen’s war, which has raised tensions between them. It was agreed in the meeting of Iran’s president with visiting Turkish counterpart Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Now a consensus is being evolved where Pakistan, Turkey and Iran are all pushing for an end to the bloodshed in Yemen and for the start of an intra-Yemen dialogue facilitated by these three countries.
Importance of Chinese Yemeni Connection
China has huge investments, geo-political and geo-strategic interests in Yemen. A stable Yemen protects its stakes. That is why the Chinese government has begun to vocally express its desire for an end to violence in Yemen, after an evacuation out of war-torn Aden that many contend has elevated China’s role as a player in the Middle East. While officially condemning neither the Houthi rebels’ coup attempt nor the Saudi-led Arab coalition’s intervention, China’s long-standing ties with Iran indicate China’s weight will fall on the side of the Shiites.
Iranian Proposal
While visiting Pakistan Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reiterated proposals for a ceasefire, humanitarian assistance, dialogue among Yemenis and formation of an all-inclusive government. Difference of opinion between Pakistan and Iran surfaced on former’s proposal for immediate ceasefire amid Saudi allegations that Iran has armed and trained Houthi militants, a charge vehemently denied by Iran.
Pakistan appeared endorsing Saudi view that a ceasefire would amount to accepting the fait accompli prompted by Houthis offensive and advances in Aden. Saudi Arabia even rejected Russia’s amendments to a Security Council draft resolution which would see an all-inclusive arms embargo on all parties in the Yemeni conflict.
“There is little point in putting an embargo on the whole country. It doesn’t make sense to punish everybody else for the behavior of one party that has been the aggressor in this situation” Saudi Arabia’s representative to the UN Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said after a closed emergency UN Security Council meeting.
Concluding Remarks
Iran’s systematic actions in Yemen constituted a major provocation to Saudi Arabia especially given that Yemen, located on Saudi Arabia’s southern flank. It has posed a grave security threat. Operation Decisive Strom was launched on the request of deposed President of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
On March 7, General Hussein Salami, Deputy Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), claimed that “the [power] of the Islamic Revolution has been stretched to Yemen” and added that “Islamic Revolution has influenced states and people from the Mediterranean Sea to the Bab el-Mandeb in Yemen.”
Later, Mohsen Rezaee, the first IRGC Chief Commander, applauded the Houthis’ fight against the Saudi-led coalition and stated that “the Iran-led ‘resistance front’ is fighting with the ‘invasion front’ of Israelis and Saudis in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, and now in Yemen.”
Earlier, Alireza Zakani, a member of the Iranian parliament who is close to the Supreme Leader, declared, “three Arab capitals [Beirut, Damascus, and Baghdad] have already fallen into Iran’s hands and belong to the Iranian Islamic Revolution, and Sana’a is the fourth.
The Houthi rebel’s advancement towards the north and Sana was the wake-up call for Saudi Arabia and GCC. Its march towards the south needed an immediate response from Saudi Arabia and its allies. The Houthis now find themselves in a position equivalent to that of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both groups are the most powerful force in their countries which needs to be curtailed for the safety and security of the GCC and MENA.
The reasons for the Saudi Arabia and its allies intervention are clear enough and rational. Saudi Arabia and its allies concluded that the Houthi takeover of Yemen was the last straw, both inside that country and in regional terms. Houthi advances threatened a wide range of undesirable outcomes i.e. Houthis strengthened Al Qaeda and other extremist groups in Yemen, they contributed to the growing humanitarian crisis which involved economic collapse, drought, refugees and other factors of profound stress for Yemeni society, their wild adventurism produced total chaos, societal unrest and political instability in the different parts of Yemen and it posed a security threat to Saudi Arabia and its allies.
Houthis advancement in Yemen represented yet another extension of Iran’s regional sphere of influence. Iran proxies clinched support from Sanaa to Beirut, Baghdad and Damascus as Arab capitals in which it holds historically unprecedented and politically unwarranted influence. Therefore, the Saudi Arabia led coalition against Yemen was just and the decisive intervention was essential.
It also appears that the Saudi Arabia led coalition against Houthis is one of the outcomes of political and security steps taken by Riyadh in response to the new geopolitical reality that will arise following a presumed agreement between Tehran and the West which needs to be rectified as soon as possible. The opening of a direct flight between Sanaa and Tehran for the first time in February 2015 epitomizes Iran’s success in achieving a major inroad into Saudi Arabia’s backyard and its historic weak point.
Despite Saudi Arabia’s request the government of Pakistan is not ready to send its troops inside the land of Yemen. It has many reasons. Pakistan’s continued war against terrorism, ongoing military operations Zarb-e-Azb, Khyber-I & II, hostile neighbors (India, & Afghanistan), and the last but not the least, terrible backlash in the earlier military engagements with Saudi Arabia forced it to stay away from the turmoil of Yemen. China’s massive economic stakes and geo-political and geo-strategic interests in Yemen may also be in the minds of policy makers sitting in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. But it is not a rationale decision because half measure achieves nothing.
The statement of UAE Foreign Minister for State is wake-up call for the government of Pakistan and its establishment because half measures achieve nothing but more confusion. For the time being, Pakistan must initiate steps to move the UN Security Council and the OIC to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Yemen. Joint diplomatic efforts in collaboration with Turkey, China, Indonesia and Malaysia must be initiated. But it would be more appropriate to rebuke the illegal occupation of Houthis with the strong warning to stay-away from the soil of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia and the GCC must formulate a united Armed Force (40,000) as soon as possible to strengthen its military presence in the region. The cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran would not end in the days to come. Incidents of infiltrations, conspiracies and political manipulations ought to be monitored by utilizing a joint mechanism of information sharing, spying system and the last but not the least; better HRMs. Assertive role of United Arab Emirates (which it is doing) is a guarantor to GCC security and stability. Government of Pakistan has already purposed its “Joint Security Shield” which needs to be rationalized by all the GCC.
According to State Bank of Pakistan recently published report (April, 2015), overseas Pakistani workers sent home $11.750 billion in eight months (July to February) of the current fiscal year against $10.248 billion during the same period last year. Out of the total $1.391 billion remittances in February 2015, Pakistan received $453.40 million, $316.51 million and $166.26 million from Saudi Arabia, UAE and other Middle Eastern countries. The historical trend of remittances cash flows showed that remittances from Saudi Arabia increased from $1.917 billion in FY10 to $4.729 in FY14. Similarly, remittances for UAE stood at $3.109 billion in FY14 against $2.038 billion in FY10. Moreover, two million Pakistanis are rendering their services in Saudi Arabia and the kingdom has helped Pakistan not only verbally but also physically on a number of occasions. So despite Pakistan’s neutral stance for the time being it has also big stakes in the ongoing war in Yemen.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and especially Saudis Arabia and UAE have long been large-hearted friends to Pakistan. The government of Pakistan should do the right thing at the right time and in the right way and revisit its policy of neutrality in the times of crisis.
Yemen has geo-political and geo-strategic importance because of its vast maritime corridors and military’s missile arsenal. Yemen’s missiles could hit any ships in the Gulf of Aden or Bab Al-Mandeb. It is one of the main routes of blue economy.
The ugly side of diplomacy is that it always cares about its own interests. In the game of power movers and shakers do not care about helpless humanity and morality because these are not cashable commodities. Deliberate efforts and media campaigns always achieve certain goals of disinformation and discredit. Religion is a holy motivated item/idea/way/mean which must not be used to settle conflicts. Sect, faith, belief and ideology must be used to promote diversity and prosperity and not destruction because humanity beautifies in diversity. Iran must realize that proxy wars have already produced enough havocs in the region and preliminary nuclear agreement with West would not achieve any substantial dividends in the days to come until and unless, Iran amend its policies towards Gulf Cooperation Council and MENA.
