Yemen | Fear of escalation on the Arabian Peninsula

Fighters from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in clashes with the Houthi militia in Al-Jawf province, north of the capital Sanaa Photo: AFP/AFPTV The latest events on the Arabian Peninsula are fueling fears of an escalation with unforeseeable consequences for world trade. The UN Security Council has already met in a second emergency meeting on developments in Yemen. According to UN estimates, the conflict there has forced more than 125,000 people to flee since the beginning of the month. 

In a lightning offensive last week, the Iran-allied Houthi militia took control of the entire west coast of Yemen and captured strategically located islands. It therefore has virtually unrestricted access to the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. The most important shipping route between Europe and Asia runs through this waterway.

According to dpa information, the Houthis are now expanding their positions around the strait. According to a source close to the internationally recognized government's armed forces, the rebels were digging trenches to defend recently conquered areas on the Red Sea coast. There was also talk of mines, but whether they were sea mines or land mines remained unclear.

The Saudi government in Riyadh accused the Houthis in the UN Security Council on Tuesday (US local time) of wanting to take the international community and the global economy hostage by accessing the strait and called for a united response. China called on all sides to exercise restraint. The USA accused Iran of supporting the Houthis with money and weapons and of guiding them with instructions.

As a result of the American-Israeli war against the country, Tehran has been restricting shipping through the important Strait of Hormuz for months. However, a counter-blockade by the USA and economic sanctions are making Tehran difficult. The Houthi offensive may have turned the tide. 

It remains to be seen whether Iran will achieve its goal of winning the other Gulf states over to a post-war order for the Strait of Hormuz - or whether other states will be drawn into the conflict, said Middle East expert and Islamic scholar Simon Wolfgang Fuchs from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in an interview with the dpa.

As the war in Yemen escalates, the Houthi militia, allied with Tehran, is again increasingly shelling targets in neighboring Saudi Arabia. The Sunni kingdom is allied with the internationally recognized government in Yemen and is bombing the Shiite militia that has controlled the capital Sanaa and other areas for years.

According to the military, Saudi air defense intercepted a Houthi drone near the holy city of Mecca for Muslims. The unmanned flying object was destroyed in the south of the city. Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led military alliance fighting alongside the government against the Houthi militia in Yemen, described the attack on Platform X as a "shameful act." There was also outrage from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who criticized the alleged drone attack on Mecca as “cowardly and vile.” 

A Houthi representative denied the accusation. "The claim that Mecca was the target is a trite lie that was spread before and no longer deceives anyone," Hezam Al-Assad wrote on X. 

Fuchs warned against drawing hasty conclusions. »The Houthis have no interest in deliberately hitting Islam's holiest sites. Rather, Saudi Arabia is currently desperately looking for allies to oppose the Houthis," said the professor. The outcry that Mecca itself is in danger comes at just the right time. Nevertheless, that will hardly be enough to bring Egypt, Pakistan or Turkey into military intervention.

The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out more than 450 airstrikes in Yemen this week alone. Civilians were also injured and killed in attacks by F-15 and Eurofighter fighter jets, but the spokesman did not give any figures. A Saudi F-15 fighter jet was also shot down. There was initially no confirmation of this from Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia is also being attacked from its northern neighbor Iraq. Shiite militias, which are also supported by Iran, are suspected to be behind these attacks. Riyadh also believes it was behind an attack on the important east-west pipeline last week. Up to seven million barrels of oil (one barrel is equivalent to 159 liters) can be pumped per day from the Persian Gulf region via the more than 1,200 kilometer long pipes for shipment west to the Red Sea.

The Saudis and their allies have so far waited in vain for military intervention from the USA. Fuchs now sees the days in which Washington acted as a force of order in the Gulf as numbered. "Destroyed military bases and the inability and now also the unwillingness to stand by close allies will leave their mark," said the scientist. dpa/nd

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