Military intervention by a coalition of regional countries in crisis-ridden Yemen might appear like a sudden, dramatic shift in the conflict, but it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
The coalition’s leading member, Saudi Arabia, is often perceived as favoring patience above all. But in the last few weeks the kingdom hinted at its intentions in Yemen through a host of statements telling the Iranian-backed Houthi movement to abandon violence and settle its disputes at the negotiating table.
Iran, meanwhile, heeded none of this advice and appears to have made the simple political mistake of confusing patience with weakness.
The intensity of the air campaign that began Thursday, with the participation of at least 10 countries, should be a loud wake-up call for Tehran. The message is clear: to stop the bloodshed, Iran must pull back in Yemen and encourage its Houthi allies to recognize the legitimate authorities, discuss the range of topics that need solutions, and abandon violent methods to achieve their goals.
Naturally, Iran has been up in arms over the coalition’s decision to act. But instead of complaining about outside “aggression,” Iran should live up to its earlier statements about wanting good relations with all of its neighbors – Tehran should stop seeking to widen its influence through arming nonstate actors and it should cease engaging in adventurism that involves spilling Arab blood.
Iran’s game has become revealed to all and the people of this region are tired of being cannon fodder for causes and struggles that have nothing to do with their national interests.
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