Time is running out for Iran and its interests in Yemen

Al-Arabia – Amid these regional conflicts and the major changes in US position, time has become the key factor in determining victory, along with patience, wisdom, firmness and resolve. This is for the benefit of Arab countries and their people in confronting hostile campaigns, particularly the Iranian project.

The Iranian regime started to collapse with the large-scale withdrawal of international companies operating there. The Iranian currency began to suffer and was severely devalued. The Iranian uprisings are escalating while the opposition is getting more organized and popular. This is all happening although not all of the US sanctions have been implemented yet. Meanwhile, American National Security Advisor John Bolton has asserted that sanctions will soon cover other areas and increase over time.

The US is quite vigilant in Iraq and Syria and has clearly stated that it would not accept the Shiite crescent expanding from Tehran to the Mediterranean. The US has put pressure on Russia to get all Iranian militias out of Syria while Israel is directly striking Iranian militias with military force and preventing them from approaching its borders.

The US has warned the Assad regime against using chemical weapons in Idlib, as it would respond with a direct military action. The situation in Syria is slowly turning against Iran’s interest. The scene in Iraq is no longer purely in Iran’s favor as the conflict there is no longer between the US and Iran but Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries have intervened to support Iraq’s stability and to let Iraq be for the Iraqi people away from Iran’s adventures and threats. The Saudi and Arab intervention aims to support Iraq and its people so that they rise again and liberate from the Iranian semi-occupation which has since 2003 only caused destruction there.

Houthi leaders are falling and Yemeni tribes are looking for their interests with the legitimate government and the Arab coalition.

Abdullah bin Bijad Al-Otaibi

The European opposition to Washington’s policies against Tehran seems ineffective and has upset the Iranian regime. Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini traveled around the world to help the regime but has made no progress as the world has become aware of the threat posed by the Iranian regime that sponsors terrorism and extremism and that has been the central bank of global terrorism since 1979, as Bolton said last week.

The fact that the Iranian regime accepted funding from the European Union with $20 million looks more like an insult than it looks like help. It sends a “wrong message at the wrong time”. It is only a symbolic action to show European opposition rather than to benefit in any field. It is thus merely nuisance, not a strategy by any means.

The Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthi terrorist militia in Yemen are the two most important militias representing the second phase of the Iranian regime after Khamenei took over following Khomeini’s death. These two terrorist militias are losing ground now and they are gradually getting squeezed. Hezbollah will have to pull out of Syria while it’s exhausted and tired despite all the slogans and claims of victory made by its secretary general after every defeat. People have actually not yet forgotten the claims he made after the 2006 July War.

Time is running out for Iran’s interests in Yemen, as the Houthis are losing every day and on all fronts. Houthi leaders are falling and Yemeni tribes are looking for their interests with the legitimacy and with the Arab coalition. The latest among such developments was the meeting of tribal sheikhs in Hajjah. This meeting which was sponsored by the Arab Coalition is just a small example that highlights the truth of what’s happening in this regard in Yemen.

Besieging Iran with US sanctions, building international mobilization against it, boycotting Qatar and the decline of the Turkish currency all are clear indicators that time in Yemen is on the side of legitimacy and the Arab Coalition. Time is on the side of Arab states and their peoples while smart policies shall yield their fruitful results one day after the other.

This article is also available in Arabic.

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Abdullah bin Bijad al-Otaibi is a Saudi writer and researcher. He is a member of the board of advisors at Al-Mesbar Studies and Research Center. He tweets under @abdullahbjad