The Yemen war which has remained most overlooked in the Middle East region despite of being highly catastrophic entered in its 1000 day on Wednesday this week. According to various media reports, nearly 17 million people in Yemen are on the brink of famine and this humanitarian crisis which is in the offing can be largely attributed to the wanting of global attention to the deadly war in Yemen. Concurrently with the malnutrition having already taken a heavy toll on the health of Yemeni children, the global solidarity by and large presently remain drifted towards Jerusalem issue which is exploited by some of the regional powers to score domestic points and on the other hand International powers are using the Jerusalem issue to render their foreign policy goals. Whereas, the Yemen war lacks global solidarity because it does not seem to benefit the interests of regional or international states which evidently makes the mayhem of Yemen war less noticeable on the world stage. The various NGO’s working in the war torn Yemen recently made a startling revelation that in every ten minutes one Yemeni child dies of malnutrition; besides, the United Nations has estimated the death toll to over ten thousand and wounding of over forty thousand others in the Yemen conflict.
All the three major parties involved in the Yemen war (Saudi Arabia, United States and Iran) have so far showed an intractable disposition towards the sufferings of Yemeni people. The rivalry between the two powerful Muslim states (Saudi Arabia and IRAN) has left the majority of Middle East in ruins; the two rivals have left its fingerprints in every ongoing conflict in the region. In this article, I will write about the nature of the Yemen conflict and some important dimensions related to it.
How the war did broke out in Yemen
When the Arab Spring was sweeping across the Arab world in late 2010 against the longtime autocratic rulers, in Yemen the uprising resulted in the oust of President Ali Abdullah Saleh (Who ruled the country for almost 34 years) and therefrom the presidential power was transferred to his deputy Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in Nov 2011 who continues to be the UN recognized President of Yemen. But this shift of power which was prophesied by Yemenis to be progressive for their state instead turned out to be a trigger for the civil war in Yemen and also created a power vacuum in the region. The civil war gained momentum after a powerful movement was led by the Houthis – a Shia backed group who allege suppression and discrimination at the hands of Sunni led Hadi government. From 2015 onwards, the war has amplified considerably with the involvement of regional and International powers.
All the three major parties involved in the Yemen war (Saudi Arabia, United States and Iran) have so far showed an intractable disposition towards the sufferings of Yemeni people. The rivalry between the two powerful Muslim states (Saudi Arabia and IRAN) has left the majority of Middle East in ruins; the two rivals have left its fingerprints in every ongoing conflict in the region.
Involvement of Saudi Arabia in the Yemen Civil War
Iran’s apparent dominance of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon is posing many challenges to the Saudi Arabia and its all-weather friend United States in accomplishing the goals of ‘Balance of Power’ politics in the Middle East region and thereof by engaging in the Yemen war, Saudi Arabia and United States are seeking control over the neighboring territory of Iran. Yemen, which is located in the backyard of the Saudi Arabia, holds a geo-strategic importance for the latter, which is why it is attempting to dominate the country of Yemen both politically and military.
Iran’s expansionist policy in Middle East
As the on-going hostility of United States against Iran over its nuclear capability pursuit seems permanent, the expansion of military and political influence in the Middle East by Iran has become imperative. Also, the ideological dominance of Saudi Arabia prevalent in the Middle East regions has made the country of Iran to expand its political influence as a countering measure.
Involvement of United States in Yemen War
Iran does not comply with the policies of United States in the Middle East which makes the latter to side with the former’s arch-rival that is Saudi Arabia which remains compliant with the policies of United States in the Middle East. The United States continues to provide the logistic and military support to the Saudi Arabia so that it can continue to contain the influence of Iran in Yemen and elsewhere.
The Present situation of Yemen War
With the Houthis having gained the control of Sana city, the capital of Yemen, the Iran backed militia group controls nearly 30 percent of the country’s provinces. On the other hand, the Internationally-recognized government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi manages to control the rest of the provinces nearly 70 percent. It is pertinent to mention that there is a disagreement over the power sharing proportions in Yemen due to varying claims of control by both Houthis and Hadi government. In the recent past, a few small provinces in Yemen have come under the control of Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
The Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port which is the only gateway for the foreign aid including food and medicines continues to remain open. The port was closed by the Saudi Arabia for nearly three weeks following the attack on Riyadh airport in the month of November which led to the shortage of food and medicines in the Yemen– for which the country has sought foreign assistance since the breakout of war.The Saudi government in the month of November this year alleged that Houthi rebels have fired a missile towards the Riyadh civil airport and the same allegation was repeated on Tuesday this week after the Saudi Government said that its missile defense system intercepted a missile which was fired from the Yemen towards Riyadh and held the Houthis responsible for the same. These two recent developments have led to the deadlock in the already grave Yemen crisis and have rose tensions of further escalations there. As I write this, the media reports from Yemen suggest that the West-led Saudi coalition carried out overnight strikes on December 20 which resulted in the Killing of at least nine civilians.
(The author a student of International Relations (Peace and Conflict Studies) IUST, Awantipora writes for the edit page of “Kashmir Horizon”. His views are personal)
