Hannah Omarjee | homarjee@radioislm.co.za
12 March 2023 | 17:00 CAT
3 min read

Photo Credit: WORDCRAFTBYANNISA

Radio Islam International discussed the Saudi-Yemen conflict and the approaching end of this week’s Media Lens with Ibrahim Deen.

Saudi Arabia announced its intention to end the conflict with Yemen. The Omani delegation is said to be the unsung hero in arranging meetings between the Saudi national leaders and Houthi rebel representatives possible.

Deen said the move from Saudi Arabia is unsurprising as the country wanted to extricate itself from the conflict and has been a sponge of resources, estimated to cost Saudi Arabia $500 million a day a few years ago.

The talks of ending the conflict are also said to relate to the recently signed Saudi-Iran peace deal.

“What we saw coming out of the Iran-Saudi agreement, you know, was what they (Iran) would call respect for sovereignty and by that, just meaning that the Iranians would try and at least advise the Houthis not to attack Saudi territory, which would aid the process of signing a deal.”

According to Deen, the proposed resolution to the conflict focuses on the Saudis and Houthis but not necessarily the other players in Yemen. Yemen is one of the harshest manufactured conflicts currently affecting the globe, with 75% of Yemenis extremely dependent on aid and 3 million children suffering from malnourishment due to a lack of proper, nutritional food. Deen claims that if the blockade is lifted, it will allow for aid to be sent into the country to assist ordinary citizens who wanted no part in the conflict from the beginning.

Deen believes that although Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) formed a coalition regarding the Yemen conflict, their goals were not aligned.

“We need to distinguish between the Saudi Arabians and the Emiratis.” Saudi Arabia has not achieved most of the objectives it set out to achieve, such as eradicating the Houthi rebels from the country. Part of Saudi Arabia’s failure in Yemen is a result of the coalition itself. Deen said the Emiratis had stunted the Saudis at every turn and were focused solely on supporting their forces in Yemen. Deen said,” And so for, you know, the Emiratis, Yemen has been a great success. They now have a lot of strategic depth that they’ve gained from the Yemeni conflict.”

In essence, the Emirati’s victory has been the downfall of the Saudis.

The conflict in Yemen demonstrated that a population would not be subjugated forever.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Junaid Kharsany on Sabahul Muslim here