10 nation Saudi-led coalition begins military operations in Yemen

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/11496264/Saudi-leads-ten-nation-Sunni-coalition-in-bombing-Yemens-Shia-rebels.html">Iran and Saudi Arabia's proxy war heats up.

Ten Sunni-led Arab states have joined in air strikes and other military operations against an Iran-linked Shia militia in Yemen, plunging the Middle East into an openly sectarian regional war.

Overnight, Saudi Arabian jets, advised by the United States, bombed positions of the Houthi rebel group which has seized much of western Yemen and driven the Sunni, western-backed President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi into flight.

Egypt, Sudan and Jordan confirmed they were supporting the operation and were discussing sending air, navy and ground forces to support their Saudi allies and financial backers.

Al-Arabiya television station, which is close to the Saudi authorities, said that besides the internationally recognised Yemeni government loyal to Mr Hadi, Morocco, Sudan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain had also joined the coalition and sent planes.

Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan and Sudan were ready to participate in a ground offensive, it added. Pakistan, which is also Sunni and close to Saudi Arabia, though not itself Arab, said it had been asked to send troops.

“I can confirm we have been contacted by Saudi Arabia in this regard,” a foreign ministry spokeswoman said. “The matter is being examined. That's all I have to say at the moment."

The news was met with fury in Tehran. The foreign ministry condemned the attack as an “act of aggression”.

"The Saudi-led air strikes should stop immediately and it is against Yemen's sovereignty," the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said. "We will make all efforts to control crisis in Yemen."

One senior Iranian figure, former Revolutionary Guard commander turned politician Alaedin Boroujerdi, said: “The flames of the fire that the Saudis have lit in Yemen today will eventually bounce back and make them the eventual losers of this war.”

The Saudis were reported to have mobilised 150,000 troops, 100 fighter jets and the navy in preparation for what would be the biggest international conflict in the region since the Iraq war.

At a press conference in Washington, the Saudi ambassador, Adel al-Jubeir, said the Obama administration had been consulted closely over the operation but was not directly involved.

The Americans and British pulled special forces out of Yemen earlier this month as the fighting between the Houthis and the government forces intensified. On Wednesday, the Houthis over-ran the Al-Anad air base outside Aden, which had been used by the Americans to fly drones hunting Al-Qaeda operatives across the country.

The former President Saleh was unseated during the Arab Spring, and has since allied with the Shia Houthis who he used to fight. The Yemeni military, armed and equipped by western powers, is loyal to Saleh. The Houthis have also been armed, trained, and funded by the Iranians who are hoping to extend their reach into the Arabian Peninsula.

Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni nations are drawing a line in the sand and saying they will not accept Iranian presence in the peninsula. This is not like fighting ISIS; the Yemeni military is well trained and well equipped with modern weapons.

Meanwhile ISIS has also established a presence, taking advantage of the power vacuum, and Al Qaeda has been there all along. The two are rivals who are fighting to fill the same niche.

The United States pulled its troops out of Yemen but continues to use drones to target Al Qaeda.

It could get very messy if it turns into a ground war.