New Stage of Confrontations between Riyadh and Houthis

4 m.   |  2021-03-19

D espite Washington’s efforts to ease tensions in the Riyadh-Houthis conflict and to move the issue to the diplomatic-political sphere, confrontations between the two groups have gained new momentum. The White House reshuffle is an opportunity for the sides to take the advantage and to once again draw the international community’s  and foremost the newly elected President Biden’s attention to the conflict.

Meanwhile the UN has been taking action to establish a ceasefire and negotiations, acting as a mediator to weaken the bilateral military confrontation and if possible to end the six-year-old conflict in Yemen.

Tensions between the sides deepened, when in February 2021, the Houthis fired rockets and UAVs at a number of targets in Saudi Arabia. Early in March 2021, the Houthis retargeted oil facilities located in the eastern parts of Saudi Arabia, which are best known for their oil industry centers. The well-known Saudi Arabian company Aramco  has its operations and management located in these parts. As a result of these actions by the Houthis, crude oil prices reached record highs for the last two years.

In recent years, the largest Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco has often been targeted. The Houthis objective is to weaken Saudi Arabia’s world oil market influence and create havoc with the oil prices . In early March, clashes broke out between Houthis and Saudi backed Yemeni government forces in the strategic province of Marib, famous for its rich oil fields. Experts attribute the Houthis’ recommencement of attacks to the fact that the US President Biden stopped supporting Riyadh in the Yemeni conflict.

W ashington, however, at the same time assured that it will keep on supporting Saudi Arabia to contain and counter regional threats.  Due to this the Houthis have taken a more aggressive stance toward Saudi Arabia, as well as to intensify attempts to militarily resolve the conflict. Washington abandoned the put forward idea of recognising the Houthis as a terrorist organization which could have been brought to life during the former President D. Trump’s presidency.

The Houthis have been conditioned by their recent military successes against the Yemeni coalition forces, especially in the region of Maribi, which has been receiving direct support from Saudi Arabia. The Houthis accuse the Saudi side that their authorities aggravated the situation by launching ballistic missiles at Houthi positions in Sanaa.

Riyadh notes that the rocket attacks by the Houthis early in March, aimed at the deeper regions of Saudi Arabia, testify that the Houthis have started targeting and damaging more strategic and vital infrastructures. This shows that the Houthis will continue to prepare for future ground attacks for strengthening their position and influence.

Experts note that the escalation of the conflict between the sides may give a new impetus to bilateral military clashes, also deepening tensions in the whole region. If the sides and mediators fail to ease the tensions, the Maribi region may become one of the hotspots of this conflict. If the Houthis succeed in taking it under control, this could potentially terminate the powers of the Yemeni government, which at the moment is fraught with serious challenges. 

The leadership of Houthis in turn claims that the recent US sanctions imposed on the two leaders of the Houthi movement Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi and Mansur al-Sa’adi will negatively affect the process of easing tensions and establishing possible political dialogue. Moreover, it will prepare for the prolongation of war and escalation of the humanitarian crisis in the country. Lastly, imposing sanctions on the Houthis was directly related to Washington blaming the rebels for the missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and the ships in the Red Sea.