Saudi Arabia has been faced with a peculiar situation vis-à-vis the Houthi tribal population of Yemen, its nextdoor neighbour. Over the years, the Houthis’ (Yemen’s Zaydi tribes’) fighting arm, formally called the Harkat Ansaar-Allah, has acquired considerable military muscle and has been giving sleepless nights to the Saudi rulers. For the past few weeks, it has been making repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil supply networks, causing massive loss to its economy. A few days back, the Houthis captured the strategically located island of Perim in the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait area, tightening their control over the narrow waterway in the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia had to close its major East-West oil pipeline a few days back when it was severely damaged by drone attacks. The drone strikes were, however, found to be not the handiwork of the Houthis. These attacks came from another militia based in Iraq. Interestingly, both militias enjoy the backing of Iran like the Hezbollah of Lebanon.
India is also one of the sufferers of this development as Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s (in fact, the world’s) biggest oil exporter, stopped crude supplies to Indian refineries till further notice.
Last week, at least 63 people lost their lives in an armed clash between the Iran-supported Houthis and the forces of the Saudi Arabia-backed Yemeni government. There was a major exchange of fire between the Houthis and the government troops on Sep. 17, resulting in many Yemenis becoming homeless with a large number of them trying to save their lives by jumping into the Red Sea in their boats. According to an independent organisation overseeing global migration, over one lakh Yemenis have got displaced in recent exchanges of fire between the Houthis and the Yemeni regime’s troops. The Saudi Air Force too conducted largescale air raids on Houthi strongholds, but the militia remains untamed. There is no end to the crisis caused by the internal fighting in Yemen as well as to attacks on Saudi border areas and commercial shipping through the Red Sea.
The Houthis were often in the news during the war between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other with the Axis of Resistance comprising the Houthis, the Hezbollahs, the Iraq-based militias, etc., supporting Teheran. Houthi fighters had turned the Red Sea route totally unsafe for ships carrying goods for Israel and crude oil exported by Saudi Arabia to different corners of the world after the Strait of Hormuz got blocked because of the actions of the US and Iran. The uncertainty of oil export from Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude supplier, sent its prices sky-high, threatening destabilisation of many economies across the globe.
This is one reason why Saudi Arabia approached the US, China and some other major powers to help find a lasting solution to the Houthi challenge to safe shipping through the Red Sea, but in vain. When Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, tried to persuade President Donald Trump to extend his helping hand for effectively handling the Houthis, the Saudi leader was told that the US could not get involved on a new war front owing to its domestic compulsions in view of the coming mid-term elections in November. The Republicans are already worried about a severe drubbing they may get at the hands of US voters in the coming battle of the ballot, likely to go in favour of the Democrats.
China and Pakistan have at last come round to the view that at this stage the Saudis should not be left to fend for themselves. Beijing has asked Teheran to use its good offices to rein in the Houthis in the interest of regional stability. Disruption of crude oil supplies from Saudi Arabia will severely hit the world’s major economies. Pakistan has taken the stand, though a little delayed one, that it is ready to fulfil its obligations under the August 7 Makkah military pact involving Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Islamabad. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif told journalists last week that Islamabad was ready to fight alongside Riyadh to defeat the Houthis as they allegedly attempted an intolerable drone attack at a place near Makkah on Sep. 15, though it was neutralised by the Saudi air force. However, this cannot be the whole truth. Initially, Pakistan was reluctant to jump into the arena owing to the Houthis being a protégé of Iran, which has friendly relations with Islamabad. This reluctance led to Saudi Arabia expressing its displeasure at the unexpected behaviour of a signatory to the Makkah agreement.
However, the complete details concerning what actually transpired between Riyadh and Islamabad, in the meantime, are not known. But it can be guessed that the Saudi side might have bluntly told Pakistan that if Islamabad was not with Riyadh during this hour of a major crisis facing the kingdom, it would be presumed that it was against Saudi Arabia. Therefore, Pakistan should forget about any financial aid from Riyadh, a stand Islamabad could not overlook in view of its precarious financial condition. There might have been a veiled threat, too, to dismantle the much-publicised NATO-style defence agreement signed in Makkah last month.
Now certain other significant questions come to one’s mind. What is the background of the Houthi militia? Why do the Houthis treat Saudi Arabia as their biggest enemy? How have they become so effective militarily in Yemen and the Red Sea? Who trains Houthi fighters? Who finances them and provides arms and ammunition?
The Houthis have a long history of grudges against Saudi Arabia. They have not only serious ideological differences with the Saudi ruling class, but also allege that Riyadh has been interfering in Yemen’s internal affairs, favouring the internationally recognised Yemeni government working against Houthi interests.
Yemen has been faced with a civil war for a long time with Saudi Arabia allegedly trying to fish in the troubled waters. In March 2015, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of nine countries, located in West Asia and North Africa, launched a war to end the crisis but without any meaningful result. The prolonged war followed a request by the then Yemeni President, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, ousted from power, to restore order to prevent Yemen from heading towards a major humanitarian crisis. However, the intended objective could not be achieved, and the feared humanitarian crisis is an ugly reality today.
Hadi had lost power during the civil war that began in Sep. 2014. Ultimately, he had to take refuge in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis, perhaps, believe that they could have been ruling over the entire country, Yemen, but for the Saudi intervention. This may be the reason why they are doing all they can to bleed Saudi Arabia.
Reports indicate that the Houthi rebels acquire arms and ammunition from the black market too besides getting their military supplies from Iran, their key supporter. There are considerable similarities between their geopolitical and ideological interests, and those of Iran. Both are deadly against Israel and the US. They are well-known for being ideologically closer to each other too. It appears that the Red Sea commercial shipping route cannot be safe so long as there is no stability in Yemen.
Some time ago, the United Nations tried to bring order through a power-sharing arrangement involving the Houthis and other warring groups but without success. The unending crisis calls for a fresh global intervention for peace before it is too late.
[The writer, a former Deputy Editor of The Tribune, is a New Delhi-based political commentator.]