From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Nov 12 2009 - 08:34:46 EST
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091112/FOREIGN/711119851/1133
Arab leaders worried as Iran criticises Saudi offensive in Yemen
Caryle Murphy, Foreign Correspondent
Last Updated: November 12. 2009 12:58PM UAE / November 12. 2009 8:58AM GMT
Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, pictured at the D8 summit in
Kuala Lumpur, says Iran is ready to help Yemen solve its problem. Saeed Khan
/ AFP
RIYADH // In what Arab leaders view as another indication of Iran’s
expansionist foreign policy aims, a senior Iranian official has criticised
Saudi Arabia’s recent offensive against Yemeni rebels and offered Iran’s
help to “restore security” in Yemen.
The remarks by the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, who
addressed the issue on two consecutive days, have reinforced concerns in the
region that Iran is seeking another opportunity to interfere in Arab
affairs, as it has done in Lebanon and Iraq.
His comments came as Saudi Arabia let it be known that its navy has begun
patrolling Yemen’s Red Sea north-west coast with orders to search ships
suspected of ferrying arms to the Yemeni rebels.
The naval action was reported on Tuesday by the Associated Press quoting an
unidentified Saudi government adviser. The government has not officially
confirmed the move, which would give an added dimension to Saudi Arabia’s
recent military air-and-ground offensive against the Yemeni rebels, known as
al Houthis after their late leader.
“If it’s true, it’s a very large escalation and if the Saudis are playing it
smart, they are going to try and … find a smoking gun” to prove that Iran is
supplying the rebels with arms, said Theodore Karasik, director of research
and development at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis
(Inegma) in Dubai.
“We have a war of rhetoric and a lot of people with vested interest want to
make this into a proxy fight,” added Mr Karasik, noting that the Iranians
are “being very aggressive” in competing with Saudi Arabia to be the
dominant regional power.
On Tuesday, Mr Mottaki denied that Iran is supporting the Yemeni rebels and,
without naming it, warned Saudi Arabia not to interfere in Yemen. “The
regional countries and especially the neighbouring countries, we recommend
seriously they not interfere in the internal issues of Yemen and instead try
to restore stability in Yemen. Those who pour oil on the fire must know that
they will not be spared from the smoke that billows.”
The next day, Mr Mottaki struck a more conciliatory stance and called for a
“collective approach” to restore peace and stability in Yemen. But given the
huge distrust Arab leaders harbour for Iran, Mr Mottaki’s offer is likely to
be taken as unwanted meddling in Arab matters.
“Iran is prepared to co-operate with the government of Yemen and other
nations in order to restore security” there, Mr Mottaki said. “The Iranians
are ready to pounce” on the messy situation in northern Yemen, said
Christian Koch, the director of international studies at Gulf Research
Centre, a Saudi-leaning think tank in Dubai.
Although there is no “concrete evidence” of direct Iranian support for the
rebels right now, if they can hold out against Yemeni and Saudi offensives,
they could become “a bridgehead into which the Iranians can funnel money and
arms”, Mr Koch added.
As Zaidi Muslims, the Houthi rebels are not orthodox Shiites, but “the
Iranians try to promote themselves as protectors of Shia everywhere,” Mr
Koch noted.
The rebels’ leader, Abdul Malik al Houthi, denied in an audiotape broadcast
by Al Jazeera that his organisation is equipped by Iran.
“We affirm that whoever tries to add a sectarian dimension to our position
is a liar and tries to sow sedition. We respect all the sons of our nation
in the Arab region … irrespective of the school of thought or ideology,” Mr
al Houthi said. “We do not have any links with any foreign political agenda
regarding our position in the current confrontation.”
The Houthis have been battling Yemeni troops for five years in a bid to end
what they say is government discrimination against them. The Saudis have
watched this rebellion and Yemen’s deteriorating internal stability with
growing impatience.
On November 3, some al Houthi rebels crossed into Saudi territory and
attacked a border guard patrol, killing one and wounding 11 others. Riyadh
responded decisively with a major military campaign to dislodge the rebels
from Saudi terrority.
The Saudis have not officially addressed rebel claims, supported by
diplomatic sources in Yemen, that their air force also raided rebel camps
well inside Yemen.
The offensive has abated somewhat, but in a visit to Saudi troops in Jizan
province on Tuesday, Prince Khaled bin Sultan, the Saudi assistant defence
minister, said that his forces “are not going to stop the bombing until the
Houthis retreat tens of kilometres inside their border”.
Iran’s support for the Houthis so far appears to be mainly financial and
non-governmental. According to Gulf States Newsletter, the “rebels get
financial and logistical support through local Shia religious taxes and
overseas contributions from the diaspora, particularly Kuwait and United
Arab Emirates. This money is spent at arms souks in Yemen and, increasingly,
in the Horn of Africa.”
The newsletter also offered an insight as to why the Saudis are reportedly
mounting naval interdiction on the Yemeni coast. “Money and arms reach the
Houthis via the harbour at Midi in north-western Yemen,” the newsletter
reported.
“It was in this area,” it added, “that the Yemeni coast guard boarded and
searched the Monady, a small Iranian registered trawler that was allegedly
found to contain RPGs and 107mm rockets. The government said the vessel,
which originated in Sharjah and crossed Oman and Eritrea, was proof of its
long-standing claims of Iranian support for the Houthis.”
The newsletter also supported rebels’ claims of Saudi support for the Yemeni
government’s latest push to suppress the rebellion, saying that Riyadh had
been giving Yemen about US$1.2 million (Dh4m) a month since August, as well
as intelligence support.
The newsletter added that the Saudis had “for the first time on 19 October,
used artillery and helicopter gun ships to strike Houthi groups on the
border”.