The resumption of fighting between Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia has raised fears that the US-Iran war could widen further. CNN reported the news.
In analysts’ view this conflict could open a new front in the war, with potentially serious effects on the global economy. Earlier this month the Houthis alleged that Saudi Arabia had attacked the airport in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, to prevent an aircraft carrying a senior Houthi delegation returning from the funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, from landing there.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said, however, that the attack had been carried out by its own forces.
The report said the purpose of that Houthi flight had been to restore direct air links between Tehran and Sanaa for the first time since the Saudi-led coalition entered the Yemen war in 2015 — links that had been closed for many years.
In an analysis, the Washington-based Middle East Institute’s Yemen specialists Nadwa Al-Dawsari and Arman Mahmoudian said the move reflects Iran’s changing regional strategy.
In their view Tehran is now using the “axis of resistance” alliance in a more coordinated way, treating the period of conflict as an opportunity to increase its influence, change facts on the ground and strengthen its regional position.
In recent years the Houthis had been observing an informal ceasefire with Saudi Arabia. After the airport attack, however, they declared that understanding at an end.
The Houthis then announced a “blockade” on Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The importance of this waterway for Saudi oil exports has risen sharply since the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed.
The Houthis subsequently claimed to have attacked two Saudi oil tankers. Saudi Arabia confirmed an attack on at least one ship and responded with air strikes on the main Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah.
Satellite images released by NASA on Monday showed vast columns of black smoke rising from the area around the Jazan oil refinery on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. The Houthis had claimed an attack on the facility the previous day.
In analysts’ view, instability in the Bab al-Mandeb strait could severely disrupt world trade and energy supplies.
There is a risk that this will drive up crude oil prices on international markets, the cost of transporting goods and inflation worldwide. In this situation the conflict in Yemen has become a fresh cause of concern not only for regional security but for the global economy.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report