MONTHS before the "Decisive Storm", an Aljazeera TV interviewer was asking what should be our response to Iran's admission of its long support of the Houthis and celebration of their control of Sanaa as the fourth Arab capital to fall in their hands?
I told him: The response will come when the sleeping Yemeni mountains awake. Yemen is the cemetery of invaders. Through history, the invading Persians, Ethiopians and Ottomans realized this fact the hard way.
The Iranians like to compare the Houthis with Hezbollah, and call them Islamic resistance.
In my answer, I posed a reminder that the Houthis make only 5 percent of the population, unlike Hezbollah's sizable following among the Shittes in Lebanon. Still, the party couldn't control the country, and they got themselves entangled in destructive wars in Syria and Iraq that backfired in the home front.
Iran has its hands full! Iraq is a tremendous quagmire, so is Syria. To add Yemen to the list is an impossible load — in the long run.
The Persian wannabe-empire is spreading chaos, destruction and division wherever they operate. Their interventionist policies are not helping their own population and are diverting their resources from development. They should be made to stop.
I would say that we should support the causes of minorities and allied groups in Iran. The Ahwazis (Iranian Arabs) were calling on their Arab brethren for decades to support them in the face of Persian occupation and abuse. Their Arabic ethnicity is making them second-class citizens. The oil, which is feeding Iran's adventures but not their needs, is located in their lands.
The Kurds like the rest of the Sunnis are maltreated, too. Not to forget the liberal groups, who are not at all happy with Iran's suppression of their aspiration for accommodation, respect and democratic inclusion.
Before King Salman decided that enough was enough and that it was time for action, he tried his best to solve all issues peacefully. In the Yemeni case, the GCC countries accepted President Hadi's call for Riyadh to host the Yemeni dialogue in the GCC headquarters. We went to the United Nations and the Security Council for approval and support. The invitation included the Houthis and the deposed President Saleh's party “the General Congress,” thus giving them the opportunity to be part of the solution.
Both parties rebuffed the invitation and accused Saudi Arabia and its Gulf partners of animosity and intervention in their internal affairs. They refused the Security Council and Arab League resolutions to give back what they took by force from the legitimate government. Moreover, they had escalated the conflict and continued their advances toward the strategic gate of the Red Sea, Bab-Almandab, and the temporary capital, Aden, and attempted to assassinate the president—putting a bounty on his head! In the meantime, 28 flights a week were run between Iran and Yemen by the Revolutionary Guards-owned airline, Mahan, which was grounded by IATA for carrying weapons and soldiers to Iraq and Syria. Two Iranian ships carried heavy and sophisticated arms, including ballistic missiles (160 tons was the last shipment), and military maneuvers with the new weaponry took place on Saudi borders. Prince Muhammad Bin Salman gave General Ahmad Ali Saleh, the son of the deposed president, a stern warning against moving to Aden. The ultimatum was ignored.
It was obvious that the militias were not only in defiance, disrespect and disregard of the civilized world, but also in a rush to enforce the status quo and their will on the Arab summit.
This was totally unacceptable and unbearable to the Saudis and the GCC states. Iran and its agents had crossed the last and most dangerous red line.
The response was faster, harder and more comprehensive than the Iranians and their proxies ever expected. The shocking and surprising Decisive Storm by five GCC members was joined by five more Arab countries and supported by two major Muslim countries—Pakistan and Turkey. The UN, Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, US, Britain, and France announced their support, too. Within few days, the bulk of the Houthis' bases and positions were destroyed, their forces run over and advances stopped.
Now they have only one option, to obey and implement the Security Council and Arab League resolutions, or else. And since they are mere agents, they would await for the orders from their masters in Tehran.
The military and political noose has been tightened and Iran, so far, has no response but objections, and no option but to call for dialogue—the same dialogue they arrogantly and dismissively refused before.
The Middle Eastern stage is different now. Actors took new roles and and standings. Saudi Arabia has taken back its needed leadership position. It is now in the driver's seat where it belongs.
What are your thoughts, dear readers? How could we stop this sectarian and political “fitnah” among Muslims? How could we bring peace and order to our Arab and Muslim world?
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi
