Iranian general in Sanaa to organize Yemen rebel counter-offensive for Saudi-led attacks
DEBKAfile Special Report March 28, 2015, 10:42 AM (IDT)
Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani with Afghan recruits in Tikrit
The Saudi-GCC-Egyptian intervention found the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels
at the gates of the big port of Aden, which commands the Straits of Bab
el-Mandeb, the vital gateway for oil shipping between the Indian Ocean
and Gulf through the Suez Canal and Mediterranean. Certain Yemeni army
units have joined the rebels. They are armed with advanced US weapons
that were supplied for the war on al Qaeda and now serve the revolt
against a Yemeni regime recognized by Washington.
This rebel force had already seized most of Yemen’s cities and stretches of its Red Sea coast.
Soleimani’s arrival in Sanaa signaled Tehran’s determination not to give up an inch of the ground gained by its proxies, while underscoring its demand for dominance as the leading Middle East power, promised by Washington in return for accepting a framework deal on its nuclear program.
Soleimani’s arrival in Sanaa signaled Tehran’s determination not to give up an inch of the ground gained by its proxies, while underscoring its demand for dominance as the leading Middle East power, promised by Washington in return for accepting a framework deal on its nuclear program.
US officials persist in their public pretense that the
diplomatic and the military arenas are unconnected. So the deal is
presented as close to signing by the March 31 deadline, while the flames
of Shiite-Sunni violence are allowed to spread into another corner of
the Middle East.
In the coming hours, Egyptian and Saudi naval and marine forces are planning landings in Aden, according to their military sources. They will fight to contain the Houthi march across Yemen and prevent the fall of its last major town, after two days of Saudi and Gulf air strikes against rebel positions around Yemen.
debkafile’s military sources report that the Saudi and Gulf air forces and Egyptian sea units managed in their first 48 hours to cut off Iran’s air and sea supplies to the Houthi rebels. Gen. Soleimeni will need to find a means of breaking the Saudi-Egyptian blockade and restoring supply routes. Above all, he must determine whether or not to co-opt Iranian air and sea forces to the Yemeni front and so leading them into head-to-head battle against Saudi Arabia and its ten Sunni allies.
Egyptian and Iranian warships maneuvering for control of the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb were reported to have clashed Thursday, the first day of the Sunni intervention in the Yemen conflict.
From outside the region, Pakistan stands ready to step into the contest, promising Friday “a strong response” to any threat to “Saudi integrity.” This opened the door for the Pakistani army to be drawn into the wars of Arabia against Iran alongside the majority of Arab Sunni nations.
Islamabad was responding to a Houthi warning to invade the
southern Saudi provinces of Asir, Najran and Jizan, for which they
counted on a welcome by the local Saudi populations, most of which
belong to the minority Ismaili sect, that is closer to the Iranian
Shiite and Houthi Zaydi than to the dominant Sunni faith of the Saudi
royal regime.
Friday night, President Barack Obama spoke with Saudi King
Salman and reaffirmed US support for the military action taken in Yemen
by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies, the White House said in a
statement.
Obama and King Salman agreed that their goal is to achieve
lasting stability in Yemen through a negotiated political solution, the
statement said. Obama also underscored his commitment to Saudi Arabia's
security.
Labels: Conflict, Egypt, Intercession, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, March 28, 2015
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