Another Axis Win in the Middle East

Saudi Arabia Surrenders to the Houthis

A short follow up of our previous essay (The Middle East- The Axis’s new Playground)  we spoke of the Houthi ultimatum to Saudi Arabia.

They gave the Saudis 72 hours to respond and respond they did.  The Saudis have agreed to all the demands of the Houthis as they realized that the United States will not defend them from attack and are unwilling or unable to deter, let alone to destroy the Houthis offensive capabilities.

Amongst the Houthi demands that the Saudis agreed to are:

1.      The re-opening of the airport in Sana’a, Yemen.  They will allow direct flights to bring pilgrims to Mecca, flights to Jordan and soon flights to everywhere.  This will allow the Houthis to be re-armed by the Iranians via air transport.

2.      Payment, by Saudi Arabia of Houthi government employees.

3.      Alowing the Houthis to sell oil – ending the embargo.

This is a plan, as stated, sponsored by Russia and not opposed by the United States.  It is a further move by the Axis into pushing the US out of the region.   It is not clear if part of this agreement is for the Saudis to disallow US use of the Prince Sultan Ari Base for attacks on the Houthis.  

As an aside, the UAE has suggested that the US setup a base in Somaliland – a breakaway country in the horn of Africa on the coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti and Ethiopia (and of course Somalia).  This seems to be an attempt to rid the Gulf States of the responsibility to host US forces that attack Iranian proxies.  Could Biden’s “you are on your own if you attack Iran” (back in April after the 300 projectile attack) have influenced their decision?

Russia and Iran are on the rise in the region as the US administration preaches de-escalation and appeasement.