Blowback From Saudi-Led Offensive In Yemen Boosts Iran Backing For Rebels - Report

Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have yielded the unintended consequence of greater backing of Houthi rebels from Iran, with supplies of military hardware and training provided by Iranian troops, the intelligence monitoring Soufan Center concluded in a report on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2018) Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have yielded the unintended consequence of greater backing of Houthi rebels from Iran, with supplies of military hardware and training provided by Iranian troops, the intelligence monitoring Soufan Center concluded in a report on Tuesday.

"When the Yemeni war started, Iranian support to the Houthis was negligible; but the Saudi campaign to roll back Iran's influence in Yemen has been a self-fulfilling prophecy, producing the exact opposite intended effect of its goal," the report said. "The Houthi rebels now possess Iranian missiles and other hardware, as well as military assistance and training provided by Iranian troops."

The Soufan Center's assessment comes as the Saudi-led campaign Pounds targets to support a Yemini government offensive to retake the rebel-held port of Al Hudaydah in a bid to maximize gains in anticipation of peace talks.

But the report warned that the prospect of negotiations being pushed by the United States remains in doubt and the likelihood of a negotiated settlement to the three-year war remains distant because Washington and others lack "meaningful leverage to pressure Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the negotiating table."

In November alone, the Saudis and UAE have conducted more than 200 airstrikes on targets in and near Al Hudaydah, the report noted.

Al Hudaydah is the Primary port for international aid to arrive for a nation where an estimated 14 million depend on humanitarian food shipments to survive, according to the United Nations.