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| The Iranian octopus controls Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen |
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| Saudi 'muscle flexing': Defense minister tours the border with Yemen |
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| Arab cartoon: Khamenei and Iran negotiate with the US while crushing Yemen |
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| Arab cartoon: Iran is hitting the great Arab force, which is doing nothing, without batting an eyelid |
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Saudis preparing to face Iran's allies in Yemen
Analysis: After
Iranian-backed rebels take over Saudi Arabia's backyard, Riyadh is
considering sending military forces to Yemen to indirectly confront its
great Shiite rival.
Roi Kais
Signs of a Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen
are growing. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said in a
clear voice during a press conference with his British counterpart on
Monday that if the anarchy in Yemen is not solved peacefully, the Gulf
states will take the "necessary measures" to protect the region from the
"aggression" of the Houthis and their allies – the Iranian-backed
forces of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
On Tuesday night it was reported that the Saudis were increasing their threat and moving forces to the border with Yemen.
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| Netanyahu's win is convenient for Arab leaders / Smadar Perry |
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Analysis:
The Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi and Gulf state rulers trust Israel's
re-elected prime minister to handle the Iranian issue, and the Americans
to pressure him on the Palestinian issue.
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| Full analysis |
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Al-Faisal harshly attacked Iran over its
policy in the entire region and on the nuclear issue. His comments were
perceived as a real threat of a Saudi military intervention in Yemen.
He spoke a day after learning that the foreign minister of
Yemen's ousted president, Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled the Houthis
after they had taken over the capital of Sana'a and is governing from
the city of Aden, had asked the Gulf Cooperation Council to intervene in
the Yemeni crisis through a joint force of the Arabian Peninsula
states.
 Saudi 'muscle flexing': Defense minister tours the border with Yemen
"We are prepared to accept all of President Hadi's requests for
the sake of the Yemini people and their stability," the kingdom's No. 1
diplomat clarified during the press conference.
Hadi's foreign minister, Riad Yassin, told al-Jazeera that the
Gulf states had accepted Yemeni's request. He said that "arrangements
are taking place," but failed to mention what kind of procedures were
being implemented and if and when the forces begin would operating on
the ground.
Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khalid Al-Jarallah,
however, sounded skeptical about a Gulf military intervention in Yemen.
 Arab cartoon: Khamenei and Iran negotiate with the US while crushing Yemen
The Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported Tuesday that the Saudi
leadership was working in the highest ranks and consulting other Gulf
states on ways to intervene in Yemen in order to help President Hadi
maintain his constitutional legitimacy, which is decreasing from day to
day, as the Tehran-backed Shiite rebels
advance.
In the meantime, Saudi Arabia is settling for a moderate "muscle
flexing": In recent days, the Saudi defense minister, Prince Mohammad
bin Salman (the king's son), toured the Jizan region in the southern
part of the kingdom, near the border with Yemen, escorted by senior
Saudi military officials.
Sources in the international community are trying to form a
dialogue between the Houthis and the ousted Yemeni president's
supporters in a bid to prevent an Arab military intervention, but so far
it seems that the Shiites are not interested in such a dialogue.
Moreover, a senior Shiite rebel even threatened that if Saudi Arabia
were to intervene in Yemen militarily, it would be the end of the Saudi
royal family.
 Arab cartoon: Iran is hitting the great Arab force, which is doing nothing, without batting an eyelid
Saudi Arabia will likely weigh its options very carefully before
deciding to militarily intervene in Yemen. While Yemen is Saudi
Arabia's backyard, and it definitely doesn’t want to see its major
Shiite rival – Iran – settling down there, Riyadh hasn't forgotten the
lesson Egypt learned in Yemen. In the 1960s, in the Gamal Abdel Nasser
era, Egypt intervened in the civil war in Yemen and emerged beaten and
injured. Confronting Iran's allies is also something which should be
considered very carefully before taking action.
In any event, the talks about a possible military intervention may
breathe some life into the Peninsula Shield Force – a joint military
force created by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar,
Bahrain and Oman in 1984 in a bid to defend themselves against external
enemies.
The force was last used in March 2011, when Sunni royal family
of Bahrain tried to oppress a revolt of the Shiite majority living in
the country, a revolt which was ignited by the opposition and encouraged
and supported by Iran.
The Shield Force is a well-trained force which includes more
than 30,000 officers and soldiers – 21,000 of whom are real fighters. In
Bahrain they helped the local forces secure strategic facilities during
the 2011 riots. In 2003, the Gulf states agreed to deploy the force in
Kuwait for fear of an Iraqi response to the invasion of Iraq.
After
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was toppled, there were talks about
dismantling the force, but it continued to exist and may now be called
back into action. The question is what will happen if the Gulf states
take the serious step of sending the Shield Force to Yemen, and
especially how Tehran will respond.
The ousted Yemeni president is expected to attend the Arab
League summit, which begins in Cairo this Saturday. Tehran, we can be
sure, will be very attentive to what is said there. end quote from:
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