What do the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia mean?
After a week of attacks on airports and industrial facilities in Saudi Arabia, the Iran-backed Houthi militia is threatening further escalation. Saudi Arabia supports the internationally recognised government in Yemen, which is fighting the Houthi. The US and the Mecca Alliance have so far been cautious in showing support for Riyadh.
Disastrous for the strong leader
Riyadh is in a quandary, Diena puts in:
“The Houthis are determined to continue their attacks on Riyadh until Saudi Arabia stops supporting the Yemeni government. Such a move, however, would be a disaster for bin Salman and his image as a 'strong leader'. But the alternatives are equally unappealing. Airstrikes on Houthi territory do not undermine their military capabilities, but merely provoke retaliation, while deploying additional Saudi troops to Yemen would result in the inevitable death of a large number of soldiers.”
The price of Trump's arrogance
Behind all this lies the unresolved conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran over dominance in the Gulf, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung points out:
“For years now, this conflict has been played out militarily in Yemen. Now Trump has stirred up this strategic hornet's nest with a mixture of arrogance and ignorance common to many right-wing populists. Having sought to withdraw from its neighbour's civil war in order to focus on its own economy, Saudi Arabia is now paying the price. For decades, Saudi foreign policy has revolved around its alliance with America. The fact that Trump has now largely undermined this alliance could bring about further significant changes across the Middle East.”
Riyadh looking for help
Il Manifesto sees Saudi Arabia in a very difficult position:
“The latest Houthi attacks took place just as the 17th International Energy Forum was getting underway in Riyadh, and with numerous international delegations also expected to attend the 'Davos in the Desert' [in two weeks' time]. ... But who will come if the airport is closed or unsafe? ... Riyadh has spent billions of dollars on American and Western weapons, which have proved largely ineffective against the Houthis' missiles and drones. So all it can do now is to hope that Trump and the Europeans, who are always ready to come to the rescue of the oil barons, will pitch in.”
Baffling attack capabilities
How the Houthis are able to carry these attacks is a mystery to To Vima:
“Most analysts say that the pro-Iranian rebels could not have built up a stockpile of precision-guided weapons with a range of 1,500 to 2,000 kilometres without Tehran's assistance, so without the support of Iranian technical and military advisers. However, they struggle to explain how this vast arsenal, which had been hidden all along, was created, or how the Houthis are able to breach the missile defences of the Saudis and their allies in so many places and with such frequency.”