Gulf Arab states are considering military intervention against Iran-backed Houthi rebels advancing on Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, in what threatens to turn a rumbling Sunni-Shia cold war into a more direct conflict.
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In a dramatic day of events that saw reports of President Abd Rabbuh Hadi fleeing the city denied by his advisers after Houthi forces stormed an key air base near Aden, Yemen’s foreign minister on Wednesday told Sky News Arabia that Sunni Gulf states had accepted his government’s request for military intervention to stem the advance of Houthi militia.
The move sets the scene for a confrontation between Sunni-majority Arab countries and Shia Iran, which they accuse of interfering in the Arab world by supporting proxy groups such the Houthi, who are followers of the Zaydi Shia sect.
Leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar who met in Riyadh last weekend to discuss the Yemeni crisis were on Wednesday evening weighing up air strikes against Houthi positions in their northern strongholds in defence of Mr Hadi in the southern port city, a person aware of the discussions said.
Reports have since emerged that Saudi Arabia has moved heavy weaponry towards its southern border with Yemen, which adjoins the Houthis’ northern power base.
Gulf states have not yet confirmed plans for military intervention, but the 22-member Arab League’s foreign ministers are set to discuss the unfurling crisis in Egypt on Thursday.
The Houthi rebels, who are working in partnership with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, on Wednesday seized al-Anad air base 60km north of Aden, the last staging post on the road to the country’s second-largest city, raising the stakes as the impoverished nation slides towards civil war.
A spokesman for Mr Hadi, who escaped the Houthi-controlled capital of Sana’a in February, denied rumours that the president had fled Aden by sea.
Clashes broke out around Aden’s airport later on Wednesday, according to local media. Warplanes also fired at the compound where Mr Hadi has been forming his government in exile.
Analysts believe Saudi Arabia is adopting a defensive position on the Saudi-Yemeni border, which adjoins the Houthis’ territorial heartland, or perhaps seeking to draw in the militia’s forces into a battle on a second front in the northern Yemeni highlands.
Sunni Arab states may also be planning a joint force to weigh in behind Mr Hadi, whom they — along with the UN — have backed as the legitimate president.
“It is entirely possible that air strikes or special operation forces may be used on specific missions,” said Theodore Karasik, a Dubai-based security analyst. “There is a plan for a joint Arab force but it is not ready yet for operations.”
US military personnel on Saturday evacuated al-Anad base, which had been used to co-ordinate drone strikes against al-Qaeda.
The Houthis, who have controlled the capital since September, say their advance against Aden aims to stem the growing influence of al-Qaeda, which they claim has joined Mr Hadi’s coalition of army loyalists and southern tribes.
Analysts fear that al-Qaeda, a potent force in central to parts of Yemen, could become the shock troops of a Sunni defence, deepening the polarised sectarian conflict.
The Houthi advance south gathered pace after last week’s deadly suicide bombings at two mosques in Sana’a that caused hundreds of casualties among Zaydi Shia worshippers.
Analysts said the Houthis’ rapid charge was intended to lock in territorial gains ahead of potential foreign intervention or peace talks.
Saudi officials have said they would take the “necessary measures” if peace efforts, led by UN envoy Jamal Benomar in Sana’a, failed.
Qatar has sought to get key Yemeni power brokers to meet in Doha to forge a peace agreement, but so far military action on the ground has trumped diplomacy.
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