Houthi Rebels say they won't target anyone but the Saudis, warn other countries from joining the war.

 

Houthi supporters in Sanaa. AP.

The Houthi Rebels have said that they won't target anyone but the Saudis but warned other countries against getting involved in the conflict. AP. Washington had reached out to the Houthis and an agreement was made that neither side would attack each other. The Houthis said they would not attack any other countries ships transiting the Red Sea. Oman had hosted the meeting between the United States and the Houthis. The Houthis are demanding that the Saudis end their blockade against rebel areas that they have imposed during the civil war. The Houthis have had some success lately against the Yemeni government and have launched major attacks against Saudi Arabia. 

My Comment:

After years of stalemate the situation in Yemen seems to have escalated dramatically. The Houthis have taken most of the territory on the Red Sea and have even launched major attacks on Saudi targets. Indeed, right now the attacks on Saudi oil production is a major reason why gas prices exploded last week. 

The situation is an embarrassment for the Saudis as they have never been able to deal with the Houthis. The fact that not only are the Saudi allies in Yemen getting devastated this last couple of weeks. And they have not been able to defeat Houthi attacks on their homeland. It's part of the reason why the oil markets were panicking, they just couldn't deal with the Houthis and their attacks. 

The Saudis aren't putting boots on the ground but they are training the Yemeni forces opposed to the Houthis. They are also launching heavy air strikes in support of these forces. But it hasn't been enough. The Houthis are tough fighters. They have been very resilient to these kinds of attacks and are on the offensive. 

The real fear was that other countries were going to be dragged into this conflict. Indeed, I had feared that Trump's return from Camp David early this weekend had more to do with Yemen than Iran. Thankfully I appear to have been wrong. The Houthis are, as of this writing, saying they don't want to fight anyone but the Saudis. And the United States and Israel don't seem to be willing to back up their Saudi allies. 

Could it happen in the future? Of course. But I don't think either side really wants to be involved in Yemen. The United States and Israeli military are a lot more competent than the Saudis and the Houthis don't particularly want to face that kind of firepower. And nobody wants to be dragged into another conflict while the Iran conflict is still raging. 

The problem is that these attacks on Saudi oil facilities is not helping oil prices, which are already high due to the Iran conflict and the Russia-Ukraine War. This report might calm things down a bit, but I am guessing lower fears over Yemen will be outweighed by the bad news from Russia this weekend where Ukraine launched major attacks on their oil facilities as well. And the Iran conflict still lingers on.