Jizan, Saudi Arabia: From their post on a rocky hilltop, a pair of Saudi border guards man a .50-caliber machine gun and use binoculars to scan the dry scrubland that separates this kingdom from its war-torn neighbor to the south, Yemen.
“Our border is a red line,” said Lt. Col. Hamed Al Ahmari, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry guards who patrol the highly porous frontier that stretches about 1,000 miles through mountains and desert.
Officials in Saudi Arabia, say the air campaign is dealing a decisive blow against Al Houthi militiamen, whom they view as tools of aggression used by Iran in an expanding proxy war.
Coalition air strikes have destroyed fighter jets, ballistic missiles, antiaircraft guns and other military hardware held by Al Houthis and their allies, who have taken control of large parts of Yemen.
Security experts question whether the coalition can achieve its goals through air strikes alone. Saudi officials have not ruled out sending in tanks, artillery and other ground forces massed along the frontier.
“The Saudis understand there is no military solution in Yemen,” said Mustafa Alani, a security studies scholar at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, United Arab Emriates. “There are two objectives of this operation. The first is to destroy the military backbone of the Houthis. ... This they are doing very well. Second, to weaken Al Houthis to the point that they go back to the negotiating table.”
Saudi Arabia and its allies have become increasingly concerned by what they view as an aggressive campaign by Iran to project its influence across the region, which they do not believe the United States is taking seriously enough. The Obama administration’s pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran has added to the growing mistrust of US intentions.
Tehran is a major sponsor of the governments in Syria and Iraq and of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Coalition members view the Al Houthi aggression as another attempt by Tehran to put its clients in charge of Arab capitals, this time in Saudi Arabia’s backyard.
Brig. Gen. Ahmad Asiri, a spokesman for the Saudi-led campaign, accuses Iran of providing large quantities of weapons and training to Al Houthis.
“Once they got control of Sana’a, they signed a contract with an Iranian airline, 14 flights a week,” he told The Times. “To do what? We did not know that there is tourism coming from Yemen to Iran or from Iran to Yemen.
“We accept that our neighbor has a very strong army,” he continued, “but not the militias.”
Pro-Hadi fighters, locally known as Popular Committees say they have captured two Iranian military officers who were advising the insurgents during fighting Friday in Aden. Reports from Yemen said the officers were members of an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
US officials believe that Iran is providing some military aid to Al Houthis, and have increased the logistical support, intelligence and weapons they are contributing to the Saudi-led campaign.
Far more important to the Al Houthi campaign, they say, are the bases, military equipment and fighting power provided by elements of the Yemeni armed forces who are still loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former strongman deposed in 2012.
Saddam Abu Asem, a commentator whose columns have appeared in a number of Yemeni news outlets, has said Operation Decisive Storm has weakened Al Houthi militiamen, who also face growing domestic pressure over soaring food prices, fuel shortages and power cuts.
“There is talk that these parties are looking for a way out of the crisis,” Abu Asem said.
Naif Qanes, a member of a committee tasked by Al Houthis to run the government, said the insurgents are ready to take part in talks.
The Saudis and their allies insist that Al Houthis recognize Hadi’s legitimacy and surrender the arms they have taken from the state.
