If i am not wrong its serbian upgrade ?but i dout its air drop weapons saudia share border with yemen plus controls ports of aden no need of airdrop may be very few .
Operation 'Decisive Storm' | Saudi lead coalition operations in Yemen - Updates & Discussions.
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Azeri440
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Not sure , but you can easily get those sights and rails to modify it yourself
clearly wasn't a bright one that did the job
Daneshmand
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US Generals: Saudi Strikes in Yemen ‘a Bad Idea’ | Al Jazeera America
Analysis: Some top officers question Washington’s support for Riyadh-led intervention, which they say is doomed
A member of the Saudi security forces next to a replica of a fighter jet during a daily media briefing on the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrike operation against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, April 2, 2015.
Fayez Nureldine / AFP / Getty Images
John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has accused the Obama administration of going soft on Iran’s regional ambitions in pursuit of what he sees as a bad nuclear agreement with Tehran, and has praised “our Arab partners” for intervening in Yemen. “The prospect of radical groups like Iranian-backed Houthi militants” was “more than [U.S. Arab allies] could withstand,” he said. But a large contingent of senior U.S. military officers believes the Saudi-led military operation will fail, and possibly turn into a quagmire.
The fact that the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen was planned and launched independently of the U.S. was, in McCain’s eyes, a rebuke of the administration’s policies. “These countries, led by Saudi Arabia, did not notify us nor seek our coordination or our assistance in this effort,” he said during a March 26 committee hearing, “because they believe we are siding with Iran.”
A senior commander at Central Command (CENTCOM), speaking on condition of anonymity, scoffed at that argument. “The reason the Saudis didn’t inform us of their plans,” he said, “is because they knew we would have told them exactly what we think — that it was a bad idea.”
Military sources said that a number of regional special forces officers and officers at U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) argued strenuously against supporting the Saudi-led intervention because the target of the intervention, the Shia Houthi movement — which has taken over much of Yemen and which Riyadh accuses of being a proxy for Tehran — has been an effective counter to Al-Qaeda.
Michael Horton, a Yemen expert close to a number of officers at SOCOM and a consultant to the U.S. and U.K. governments, picked up on this debate. Within days of the Saudi intervention’s start, he said in an email that he was “confounded” by the intervention, noting that many in SOCOM “favor the Houthis, as they have been successful in rolling back AQ [Al-Qaeda] and now IS [the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL] from a number of Yemeni governorates” — something that hundreds of U.S. drone strikes and large numbers of advisers to Yemen’s military had failed to accomplish.
Later, in a telephone interview, Horton expanded on that. “These constant reports that the Houthis are working for the Iranians are nonsense, but the view is right out of the neocon playbook,” he said. “The Israelis have been touting this line that we lost Yemen to Iran. That’s absurd. The Houthis don’t need Iranian weapons. They have plenty of their own. And they don’t require military training. They’ve been fighting Al-Qaeda since at least 2012, and they’ve been winning. Why are we fighting a movement that’s fighting Al-Qaeda?”
‘These constant reports that the Houthis are working for the Iranians are nonsense, but the view is right out of the neocon playbook. The Israelis have been touting this line that we lost Yemen to Iran. That’s absurd. The Houthis don’t need Iranian weapons. They have plenty of their own.’
Michael Horton
Yemen expert
One reason for U.S. support may be the diplomatic logic of tamping down Riyadh’s opposition to a nuclear deal with Iran by backing an aggressive Saudi-led response to what a number of U.S. allies in the region portray as rapidly expanding Iranian influence in Arab countries. But another is the view among some U.S. military commanders that countering Iran takes strategic priority over combating Al-Qaeda and ISIL.
Iran was long the central focus of former CENTCOM Commander Gen. James Mattis, who in 2011 requested that Obama order the deployment of a third U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the Gulf to pressure Iran. The White House turned down the request. Before his retirement, Mattis reportedly told an audience that the U.S. faced three threats in the region: “Iran, Iran, Iran.”
But others argue for balancing U.S. concerns about various threats. And a number of CENTCOM and SOCOM officers believe the Saudis are in over their heads in trying to reverse Houthi gains in Yemen through military intervention.
“We had a great opportunity to engage with the Houthis on this, but we gave in to the Saudis,” Horton said, “and frankly, they cannot begin to manage this. They have all the toys but few people who know how to effectively use them. Their NCO and officer corps are largely untested, and their enlisted men are drawn from the lowest rungs of Saudi society. If they get bogged down in Yemen, I wonder about the loyalty of many of the soldiers and NCOs. The Egyptians will not fare much better.”
But that’s not the view of McCain and other hawkish senators around him. They see Iran’s fingerprints all over whatever goes wrong in the region — a view that alarms Horton. “This is a guy who complained that we were Iran’s air force in Iraq,” he said. “Well, guess what? Now we’re Al-Qaeda’s air force in Yemen.”
Analysis: Some top officers question Washington’s support for Riyadh-led intervention, which they say is doomed
A member of the Saudi security forces next to a replica of a fighter jet during a daily media briefing on the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrike operation against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, April 2, 2015.
Fayez Nureldine / AFP / Getty Images
John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has accused the Obama administration of going soft on Iran’s regional ambitions in pursuit of what he sees as a bad nuclear agreement with Tehran, and has praised “our Arab partners” for intervening in Yemen. “The prospect of radical groups like Iranian-backed Houthi militants” was “more than [U.S. Arab allies] could withstand,” he said. But a large contingent of senior U.S. military officers believes the Saudi-led military operation will fail, and possibly turn into a quagmire.
The fact that the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen was planned and launched independently of the U.S. was, in McCain’s eyes, a rebuke of the administration’s policies. “These countries, led by Saudi Arabia, did not notify us nor seek our coordination or our assistance in this effort,” he said during a March 26 committee hearing, “because they believe we are siding with Iran.”
A senior commander at Central Command (CENTCOM), speaking on condition of anonymity, scoffed at that argument. “The reason the Saudis didn’t inform us of their plans,” he said, “is because they knew we would have told them exactly what we think — that it was a bad idea.”
Military sources said that a number of regional special forces officers and officers at U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) argued strenuously against supporting the Saudi-led intervention because the target of the intervention, the Shia Houthi movement — which has taken over much of Yemen and which Riyadh accuses of being a proxy for Tehran — has been an effective counter to Al-Qaeda.
Michael Horton, a Yemen expert close to a number of officers at SOCOM and a consultant to the U.S. and U.K. governments, picked up on this debate. Within days of the Saudi intervention’s start, he said in an email that he was “confounded” by the intervention, noting that many in SOCOM “favor the Houthis, as they have been successful in rolling back AQ [Al-Qaeda] and now IS [the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL] from a number of Yemeni governorates” — something that hundreds of U.S. drone strikes and large numbers of advisers to Yemen’s military had failed to accomplish.
Later, in a telephone interview, Horton expanded on that. “These constant reports that the Houthis are working for the Iranians are nonsense, but the view is right out of the neocon playbook,” he said. “The Israelis have been touting this line that we lost Yemen to Iran. That’s absurd. The Houthis don’t need Iranian weapons. They have plenty of their own. And they don’t require military training. They’ve been fighting Al-Qaeda since at least 2012, and they’ve been winning. Why are we fighting a movement that’s fighting Al-Qaeda?”
‘These constant reports that the Houthis are working for the Iranians are nonsense, but the view is right out of the neocon playbook. The Israelis have been touting this line that we lost Yemen to Iran. That’s absurd. The Houthis don’t need Iranian weapons. They have plenty of their own.’
Michael Horton
Yemen expert
One reason for U.S. support may be the diplomatic logic of tamping down Riyadh’s opposition to a nuclear deal with Iran by backing an aggressive Saudi-led response to what a number of U.S. allies in the region portray as rapidly expanding Iranian influence in Arab countries. But another is the view among some U.S. military commanders that countering Iran takes strategic priority over combating Al-Qaeda and ISIL.
Iran was long the central focus of former CENTCOM Commander Gen. James Mattis, who in 2011 requested that Obama order the deployment of a third U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the Gulf to pressure Iran. The White House turned down the request. Before his retirement, Mattis reportedly told an audience that the U.S. faced three threats in the region: “Iran, Iran, Iran.”
But others argue for balancing U.S. concerns about various threats. And a number of CENTCOM and SOCOM officers believe the Saudis are in over their heads in trying to reverse Houthi gains in Yemen through military intervention.
“We had a great opportunity to engage with the Houthis on this, but we gave in to the Saudis,” Horton said, “and frankly, they cannot begin to manage this. They have all the toys but few people who know how to effectively use them. Their NCO and officer corps are largely untested, and their enlisted men are drawn from the lowest rungs of Saudi society. If they get bogged down in Yemen, I wonder about the loyalty of many of the soldiers and NCOs. The Egyptians will not fare much better.”
But that’s not the view of McCain and other hawkish senators around him. They see Iran’s fingerprints all over whatever goes wrong in the region — a view that alarms Horton. “This is a guy who complained that we were Iran’s air force in Iraq,” he said. “Well, guess what? Now we’re Al-Qaeda’s air force in Yemen.”
Hindustani78
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Two Indian ships with 484 Yemen evacuees arriving in Kochi | Zee News
Last Updated: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 01:19
New Delhi/Kochi: Two Indian ships - MV Corals and MV Karavatti - are to berth in Kochi on Saturday with 484 evacuees, including 73 Indians and 336 Bangladeshis, in the last lot of people brought out from strife-torn Yemen.
"MV Corals is carrying a total of 318 evacuees, which includes 46 Indians and 272 Bangladeshis, while on board MV Kavaratti are 166 evacuees, which include 27 Indians, 64 Bangladeshis and 75 Yemenis of Indian-origin," the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
However, it was not clear when the ships would arrive. While an officical in Kochi said they would arrive at 2.30 p.m., the external affairs ministry said they would arrive at Kochi at 1.30 p.m.
Defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted that the last of the evacuees are arriving in India. "The last of the evacuees, 475 in all, would be arriving Kochi by MVs Kavaratti and Corals tomorrow (Saturday), escorted by INS Tir."
"A team of Bangladesh officials has already arrived in Kochi to take care of their nationals," a Cochin Port Trust official told IANS.
The two ships departed from Djibouti on April 12, he added.
The Bangladeshis will be flown back to Dhaka by a Biman Bangladesh Airlines special flight.
The two ships, together having a capacity of 1,150 passengers, set sail from Kochi on March 30 for Djibouti to bring back stranded Indians.
Earlier this month, India ended its massive evacuation efforts of its nationals in Yemen, pulling out 5,600 people, including 4,640 Indians and 960 nationals from 41 countries.
A media report from Dhaka said 136 Bangladeshis have been evacuated from Yemen by an Indian Navy ship that took them to Djibouti on Thursday.
According to bdnews24, Bangladesh is operating a repatriation control room in Djibouti led by its ambassador in Kuwait.
The rescued Bangladeshis will be flown back to Dhaka from Djibouti on April 20 in a special flight.
Yemen became volatile with the rise of the Shia Houthis rebels who took over the capital city of Sanaa in September last year and ousted President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
IANS
***********
Saudi Arabia pledges $274 mn in aid for Yemen | Zee News
Last Updated: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 11:47
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia, which is leading a three-week-old air war against rebel forces in Yemen, on Saturday announced USD 274 million in humanitarian aid for the chaos-wracked country.
The pledge, which the official SPA news agency said was ordered by King Salman, followed a UN appeal Friday for USD 274 million (253 million euros) to provide emergency assistance to the millions affected by the conflict.
The kingdom "stands with its Yemeni brothers" and hopes for "the restoration of security and stability," it said, quoting an official statement.
Yemen has sunk further into chaos since the start of the air raids by a Saudi-led regional coalition on Iran-backed rebels whose sweeping advance forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.
The United Nations says hundreds of people have died and thousands of families have fled their homes in the war.
Aid agencies have warned of an unfolding humanitarian disaster.
"Ordinary families are struggling to access health care, water, food and fuel -- basic requirements for their survival," UN Humanitarian Coordinator Johannes Van Der Klaauw said Friday as he appealed for funds.
AFP
Last Updated: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 01:19
New Delhi/Kochi: Two Indian ships - MV Corals and MV Karavatti - are to berth in Kochi on Saturday with 484 evacuees, including 73 Indians and 336 Bangladeshis, in the last lot of people brought out from strife-torn Yemen.
"MV Corals is carrying a total of 318 evacuees, which includes 46 Indians and 272 Bangladeshis, while on board MV Kavaratti are 166 evacuees, which include 27 Indians, 64 Bangladeshis and 75 Yemenis of Indian-origin," the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
However, it was not clear when the ships would arrive. While an officical in Kochi said they would arrive at 2.30 p.m., the external affairs ministry said they would arrive at Kochi at 1.30 p.m.
Defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted that the last of the evacuees are arriving in India. "The last of the evacuees, 475 in all, would be arriving Kochi by MVs Kavaratti and Corals tomorrow (Saturday), escorted by INS Tir."
"A team of Bangladesh officials has already arrived in Kochi to take care of their nationals," a Cochin Port Trust official told IANS.
The two ships departed from Djibouti on April 12, he added.
The Bangladeshis will be flown back to Dhaka by a Biman Bangladesh Airlines special flight.
The two ships, together having a capacity of 1,150 passengers, set sail from Kochi on March 30 for Djibouti to bring back stranded Indians.
Earlier this month, India ended its massive evacuation efforts of its nationals in Yemen, pulling out 5,600 people, including 4,640 Indians and 960 nationals from 41 countries.
A media report from Dhaka said 136 Bangladeshis have been evacuated from Yemen by an Indian Navy ship that took them to Djibouti on Thursday.
According to bdnews24, Bangladesh is operating a repatriation control room in Djibouti led by its ambassador in Kuwait.
The rescued Bangladeshis will be flown back to Dhaka from Djibouti on April 20 in a special flight.
Yemen became volatile with the rise of the Shia Houthis rebels who took over the capital city of Sanaa in September last year and ousted President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
IANS
***********
Saudi Arabia pledges $274 mn in aid for Yemen | Zee News
Last Updated: Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 11:47
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia, which is leading a three-week-old air war against rebel forces in Yemen, on Saturday announced USD 274 million in humanitarian aid for the chaos-wracked country.
The pledge, which the official SPA news agency said was ordered by King Salman, followed a UN appeal Friday for USD 274 million (253 million euros) to provide emergency assistance to the millions affected by the conflict.
The kingdom "stands with its Yemeni brothers" and hopes for "the restoration of security and stability," it said, quoting an official statement.
Yemen has sunk further into chaos since the start of the air raids by a Saudi-led regional coalition on Iran-backed rebels whose sweeping advance forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.
The United Nations says hundreds of people have died and thousands of families have fled their homes in the war.
Aid agencies have warned of an unfolding humanitarian disaster.
"Ordinary families are struggling to access health care, water, food and fuel -- basic requirements for their survival," UN Humanitarian Coordinator Johannes Van Der Klaauw said Friday as he appealed for funds.
AFP
الأعرابي
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On top of that, because Saudi Arabia has no technology to manufacture artillery shells, and China won't sell anything to Saudi Arabia because it is an aggressor state, soon they run out of shells
Don't worry, KSA make its own artillery shells
KSA also make its own air dropped Paveway guided bombs
Which means the ammunition supply is unlimited, which also means your Houthies will continue to be roasted.
Hindustani78
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Don't worry, KSA make its own artillery shells
KSA also make its own air dropped Paveway guided bombs
Which means the ammunition supply is unlimited, which also means your Houthies will continue to be roasted.
What is the range of the artillery shells ?
الأعرابي
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The range is determined by the platform the shell is fired from not the shell itself, these are 155mm shells fired from both the M198 and M777 howitzers, it's also can be fired from the M109 self-propelled howitzer which all are in service in KSA.
Hindustani78
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So does Saudi defense industries even produce platform for the shells ?
azzo
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Saudi can produce 70% of its military needs locally. Soon to be 100%.
Madali
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Saudi Claims on Iran’s Role in Yemen Face Skepticism in West
The Saudi-led military campaign to roll back Houthi fighters in Yemen has received public backing from the kingdom’s traditional allies, including the U.S. and France.
At the same time, U.S., French, and other Western officials say they are skeptical about Saudi Arabia’s main claim: that the Houthi rebellion is driven by Iran’s ambitions to hold sway over large chunks of the Arab world.
And European leaders are signaling to Riyadh that patience with its three-week offensive -- joined by nine mostly Sunni Muslim nations with the stated aim of restoring to power a legitimate, ousted government -- is starting to wear thin. Yemen’s disintegration can only be prevented by negotiations between its competing factions, they say.
“The prospect of a military solution to the Yemen problem isn’t foreseen by anybody,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday after meeting his counterparts from the Group of Seven nations in the German port city of Luebeck. He said all G7 ministers called for a return to dialogue.
There are already indications that al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen is gaining from the conflict. The group and allied fighters on Thursday seized control of an airport and oil export terminal around the town of Mukalla, which they captured this month, according to a local tribal leader.
The Houthis have been fighting against al-Qaeda for years, and say that Yemen’s government, counted by the U.S. as an ally against the jihadists, has been tacitly aiding them.
No Allegiance
Secretary of State John Kerry and other top U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing military and financial support to the Houthis in an effort to expand its influence, American and European intelligence officers and diplomats following the issue closely say the Islamic Republic’s support is limited.
The Houthis are not aligned with the Iranian brand of Shiite Islam, two U.S. officials who requested anonymity to be critical of higher-ranking colleagues, pointed out. The group has no allegiance to Iranian leaders in Tehran or top clerics in the holy city of Qom, two European officials said.
The Houthis are fighting largely with small arms and light weapons they’ve had for years or seized from U.S.-backed Yemeni forces, according to one American official. They are not reliant on Iranian arms, money, intelligence or direction to nearly the degree that Hezbollah in Lebanon, some Shiite militias in Iraq or the Syrian government are, the official said.
‘Local Dynamics’
“Despite frankly a lot of propaganda about Iranian expansionism in Yemen this conflict is almost entirely driven by local dynamics and by local arms,” Yezid Sayigh, senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said during a panel discussion April 13 in Washington. “I don’t think the Houthis need arms for the next 15 years given how many arms there are already in the country.”
The Houthis, who say that they operate independently of Iran and are fighting oppression by Sunni-dominated Yemeni governments, advanced out of their northern strongholds last year and took control of most of the capital, Sana’a, in September.
The Saudi-backed president, Abdurabuh Mansur Hadi, fled to the south in February, and then to Riyadh, precipitating the military campaign. Saudi and Gulf Arab officials say they are seeking to restore his administration to office and to force the Houthis to resume talks.
Gulf View
High-ranking Obama administration spokesmen have been blaming Iran, as Kerry did in Cairo on April 9, in part to reassure the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs over existing alliances, one of the U.S. officials said. The intended message is that President Barack Obama isn’t pursuing a strategy of detente with Iran as part of the negotiations to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
While stressing he understands Saudi concerns about a conflict in a neighboring state, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has started to suggest it’s time to end the operation. “The lesson of the past few years is that you can never have a purely military solution,” he told reporters in Paris on Thursday. “Sometimes military force is necessary, but a conflict can only be resolved by the inhabitants themselves.”
Viewed from the Gulf, though, the Houthi advance is being driven by Iran’s regional ambitions.
‘Trivial’ Influence
An official from a Gulf nation, who also asked not to be identified, said there are an estimated 5,000 Iranians, Hezbollah and Iraqi militia on the ground in Yemen, helping the Houthis. Iran has expressed sympathy for the Houthis but denies sending any direct support.
So far, the bombing of Houthi targets hasn’t pushed the rebel force into retreat, though an offensive to capture the southern city of Aden has slowed. The United Nations said April 6 that 540 people had been killed, 74 of them children, and 1,700 wounded in violence in Yemen since mid-March. The coalition continues to drop hints over a possible ground offensive.
The rebels, who follow the Zaidi branch of Shiite Islam, like about 40 percent of Yemen’s people, are supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He was removed from office after popular protests but retains influence over parts of the armed forces.
Iranian influence in Yemen is “trivial,” said Gabriele vom Bruck, a senior lecturer in anthropology and Yemen specialist at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
“The Houthis want Yemen to be independent, that’s the key idea, they don’t want to be controlled by Saudi or the Americans, and they certainly don’t want to replace the Saudis with the Iranians,” vom Bruck said. “I don’t think the Iranians have influence in their decision-making. It’s not a relationship like that between Iran and Hezbollah.”
The Saudi-led military campaign to roll back Houthi fighters in Yemen has received public backing from the kingdom’s traditional allies, including the U.S. and France.
At the same time, U.S., French, and other Western officials say they are skeptical about Saudi Arabia’s main claim: that the Houthi rebellion is driven by Iran’s ambitions to hold sway over large chunks of the Arab world.
And European leaders are signaling to Riyadh that patience with its three-week offensive -- joined by nine mostly Sunni Muslim nations with the stated aim of restoring to power a legitimate, ousted government -- is starting to wear thin. Yemen’s disintegration can only be prevented by negotiations between its competing factions, they say.
“The prospect of a military solution to the Yemen problem isn’t foreseen by anybody,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday after meeting his counterparts from the Group of Seven nations in the German port city of Luebeck. He said all G7 ministers called for a return to dialogue.
There are already indications that al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen is gaining from the conflict. The group and allied fighters on Thursday seized control of an airport and oil export terminal around the town of Mukalla, which they captured this month, according to a local tribal leader.
The Houthis have been fighting against al-Qaeda for years, and say that Yemen’s government, counted by the U.S. as an ally against the jihadists, has been tacitly aiding them.
No Allegiance
Secretary of State John Kerry and other top U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing military and financial support to the Houthis in an effort to expand its influence, American and European intelligence officers and diplomats following the issue closely say the Islamic Republic’s support is limited.
The Houthis are not aligned with the Iranian brand of Shiite Islam, two U.S. officials who requested anonymity to be critical of higher-ranking colleagues, pointed out. The group has no allegiance to Iranian leaders in Tehran or top clerics in the holy city of Qom, two European officials said.
The Houthis are fighting largely with small arms and light weapons they’ve had for years or seized from U.S.-backed Yemeni forces, according to one American official. They are not reliant on Iranian arms, money, intelligence or direction to nearly the degree that Hezbollah in Lebanon, some Shiite militias in Iraq or the Syrian government are, the official said.
‘Local Dynamics’
“Despite frankly a lot of propaganda about Iranian expansionism in Yemen this conflict is almost entirely driven by local dynamics and by local arms,” Yezid Sayigh, senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said during a panel discussion April 13 in Washington. “I don’t think the Houthis need arms for the next 15 years given how many arms there are already in the country.”
The Houthis, who say that they operate independently of Iran and are fighting oppression by Sunni-dominated Yemeni governments, advanced out of their northern strongholds last year and took control of most of the capital, Sana’a, in September.
The Saudi-backed president, Abdurabuh Mansur Hadi, fled to the south in February, and then to Riyadh, precipitating the military campaign. Saudi and Gulf Arab officials say they are seeking to restore his administration to office and to force the Houthis to resume talks.
Gulf View
High-ranking Obama administration spokesmen have been blaming Iran, as Kerry did in Cairo on April 9, in part to reassure the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs over existing alliances, one of the U.S. officials said. The intended message is that President Barack Obama isn’t pursuing a strategy of detente with Iran as part of the negotiations to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
While stressing he understands Saudi concerns about a conflict in a neighboring state, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has started to suggest it’s time to end the operation. “The lesson of the past few years is that you can never have a purely military solution,” he told reporters in Paris on Thursday. “Sometimes military force is necessary, but a conflict can only be resolved by the inhabitants themselves.”
Viewed from the Gulf, though, the Houthi advance is being driven by Iran’s regional ambitions.
‘Trivial’ Influence
An official from a Gulf nation, who also asked not to be identified, said there are an estimated 5,000 Iranians, Hezbollah and Iraqi militia on the ground in Yemen, helping the Houthis. Iran has expressed sympathy for the Houthis but denies sending any direct support.
So far, the bombing of Houthi targets hasn’t pushed the rebel force into retreat, though an offensive to capture the southern city of Aden has slowed. The United Nations said April 6 that 540 people had been killed, 74 of them children, and 1,700 wounded in violence in Yemen since mid-March. The coalition continues to drop hints over a possible ground offensive.
The rebels, who follow the Zaidi branch of Shiite Islam, like about 40 percent of Yemen’s people, are supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He was removed from office after popular protests but retains influence over parts of the armed forces.
Iranian influence in Yemen is “trivial,” said Gabriele vom Bruck, a senior lecturer in anthropology and Yemen specialist at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
“The Houthis want Yemen to be independent, that’s the key idea, they don’t want to be controlled by Saudi or the Americans, and they certainly don’t want to replace the Saudis with the Iranians,” vom Bruck said. “I don’t think the Iranians have influence in their decision-making. It’s not a relationship like that between Iran and Hezbollah.”
beast89
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Why would they attack their brothers?
Going into the 4th week Houthis haven't lost territory. Southerners are stepping closer to separation. Will the gulfies be left with S. Yemen only? And now they are trying to market the VP as best choice since facebook Hadi had no support.
Going into the 4th week Houthis haven't lost territory. Southerners are stepping closer to separation. Will the gulfies be left with S. Yemen only? And now they are trying to market the VP as best choice since facebook Hadi had no support.
Ceylal
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KhuderMosavi
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All combat aircraft, helicopters all, all tanks and IFVs, all air defense systems, all frigates and corvettes etc. are imported, 70%? really.
Not even China produces 70% of their war materials.
BLACKEAGLE
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KhuderMosavi
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Oh! are Iran topic?
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