24 Dec 2024
Sunday 5 April 2015 - 14:56
Story Code : 158459

Can Riyadh, Tehran find common ground in Yemen?

Nothing significantly changed in Yemen since theSaudi-led campaignto restore PresidentAbed Rabbo Mansour Hadito power. Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and forces loyal to former PresidentAli Abdullah Salehcontinue their advance despite aerial and naval bombardment that in the past five dayskilledat least 93 civilians and wounded 364 infive Yemeni citiesengulfed in the violence, includingSanaa,according to the UNhuman rights office in Geneva.

Ansar Allah isn'taffected at the moment by all the strikes, said Khalid al-Madani, a Houthi official and a member of therevolutionary committee that is ruling areas under his groups control.They are hitting civilians and the army; they know all the army bases because the Americans have the maps.As for Ansar Allah, we are a resistance group, everything is secret, nobody from outside the group knows our posts, we are making use of various experiences, and we have our experience during the past wars [in which] we defended against the former regime in Yemen and the Saudi kingdom.

During the last couple of days the Houthis were able to capture new areas, including the Dabab port in Taiz that overlooks the strategicBab al-Mandab straiton the Red Sea, while they continue efforts to impose full control over the southern Yemeni city of Aden, which used to be Hadis base. While the second objective could be regarded as a huge blow to the Saudi coalition, the first is expected to raise concerns in Egypt that defends its decision to participate in the war by citing its strategic interests to keep the Suez Canal open.

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This article was written by Ali Hashem for Al-monitor on March 5, 2015. Ali Hashemis a columnist forAl-Monitor. He is an Arab journalist serving asAl Mayadeennews network's chief correspondent. Until March 2012, he was Al Jazeera's war correspondent, and prior to that he was a senior journalist at the BBC.
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