(AFP/File, Hassan Ammar)
The Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes in Yemen resumed hours after the end of Operation “Decisive Storm” was announced as Saudi Arabia revealed a new operation, “Restoring Hope”.
The leadership of the coalition, which was formed to back the ‘”legitimacy” of Yemeni president Abdel Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, announced Tuesday the end of the operation upon request from Hadi, the Saudi state news agency reported.
A new operation was also announced, which aims to quickly resume the political process according to the United Nations Security Council’s resolution No 2216. It will continue securing civilians, countering terrorism and countering the movements and military operations of the Houthi rebels and their allies.
The announcements came somewhat unexpectedly, following the swift political actions that occurred over the past two days.
Russia – Saudi Arabia – Iran
A phone call on Monday between Saudi king Salman Bin Abdul Aziz and Russian president Vladimir Putin is believed to have included discussion on the Yemen crisis.
The Saudi monarch thanked Putin for Russia’s abstention in the Security Council’s vote over imposing a weapons embargo on the Houthis.
Putin and Salman reaffirmed in the call their readiness to deepen coordination between the two countries on the regional and international agendas, according to the Kremlin’s statement, before Putin invited Salman to a first-of-its-kind visit for a Saudi king to Russia.
Russia has been critical about the military operations in Yemen led by the close allies of the US, Saudi Arabia.
A day later, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian expressed “optimism” that Saudi air strikes in Yemen would cease “in the coming hours”.
Speaking before a trilateral meeting with his Swiss and Syrian counterparts in Tehran, he further expressed optimism “that we will see different Yemeni groups sit at the negotiating table in the coming hours”.
Iran has constantly called upon the Saudi-led coalition to stop air strikes in Yemen, warning that it would “be struck in the back by this issue”. The country submitted a peace plan to the United Nations that was widely rejected.
Most parties involved do not consider Iran to be a neutral peace broker. It is accused by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and their allies of backing the Shi’a Houthi militia, both politically and militarily.
Later on the same day the Saudi-led coalition announcement came.
What did “Decisive Storm” achieve?
After announcing the end of the operation, “Decisive Storm” spokesperson Ahmed Assiry said the operation was focused on different pillars. It first targeted controlling Yemeni airspace and preventing Houthi forces and their allies from using air force or air defence against the coalition’s forces, according to the Saudi state news agency.
Assiry confirmed that the coalition’s forces controlled the airspace within 15 minutes of the start of the operations.
He added that then ballistic missiles, logistic supplies and ammunition storages were targeted, as well as countering the ground operations of the Houthis and maintaining a naval embargo.
“The first phase of operations aimed at breaking the Houthis and their top ally [former president Ali Abdullah] Saleh’s power to force them to go back to negotiations,” said military analyst and retired General Farid Hagag.
Hagag told Daily News Egypt that Operation “Decisive Storm” was a success given that it destroyed Houthi weaponry, cutting their supply routes, in addition to the Security Council’s resolution that demands Houthis to withdraw their forces from all areas they have seized, including the capital Sana’a.
The UN resolution also demanded that Houthis “relinquish all additional arms seized from military and security institutions, including missile systems; cease all actions that are exclusively within the authority of the legitimate Government of Yemen”.
Restoring Hope?
The US welcomed the Saudi-led decision to conclude “Decisive Storm”, expressing hope for “a shift from military operations to the rapid, unconditional resumption of all-party negotiations that allow Yemen to resume an inclusive political transition process as envisioned in the GCC Initiative, the National Dialogue outcomes, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions”, according to a White House statement.
But a rapid shift did not appear on the horizon, as hours after the Saudi announcements, the coalition’s fighter jets resumed shelling Houthi targets in the city of Taiz, whilst the Houthi/Saleh forces took over a military camp affiliated to Hadi in the same city, Saudi news website Al-Arabiya reported.
Hagag believes the next phase will be politically-oriented. However, he asserted that it is still unclear.
“Coalition forces have to be on alert anticipating any violation of the Security Council’s resolution,” Hagag said, while he ruled out the option of ground operations by the coalition, except in cases of high necessity.
