This is another phase of the Saudi-led operation

What the Arabic-language media is saying about the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, featuring Asharq Al Awsat, Al Bayan and Al Hayat.

As the Saudi-led Operation Decisive Storm continues against the Iran-backed Houthis, media commentators are viewing it as a logical response to block Iranian expansion in the region. The intervention will certainly have implications for coalition countries and for regional and international players, they noted.

Salman Al Dossari, editor-in-chief of the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat, said the operation is entering a new phase in the campaign against the Houthi fighters and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The first 26-day phase had succeeded in achieving its objectives, he wrote. “The second phase focuses on protecting civilians from militia attacks, hemming in the Houthis and supporting evacuation and relief operations,” he added.

“This is an important shift in military operations and means that the operation has completed its most delicate and dangerous phase and entered another, where it will depend on significant strikes to eliminate the defensive and offensive capabilities of the militia. The emphasis in this phase will be supporting Yemeni resistance.”

This qualitative transformation means that the operation has so far successfully achieved its military objectives, he said.

“The shift was concurrent with an announcement by Staff General Abdul Rahman Al Helili, commander of the first military zone, that he and 15,000 troops under his command have pledged allegiance to Yemeni legitimacy represented by president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

Operation Decisive Storm is on its way to dismantle the militias and besiege them on the ground, after having succeeded in doing so from the air and sea,” he concluded.

The Dubai-based daily Al Bayan’s editorial said the visit by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to meet president Obama in Washington had to be seen within the context of events in the region, particularly Operation Decisive Storm. “There are new developments in the region that make this visit exceptionally important,” it said.

“The most important development is Operation Decisive Storm and its aim to reinstate Yemeni legitimacy and all its regional repercussions. Not to forget that the visit follows the framework agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme and Iran’s intervention in the internal affairs of some countries in the region”.

In the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, Ghassan Charbel said there are numerous references in the media about the versatility of Iran and its successes in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

“However, Yemen is not cut from the same cloth and the Iranian policies in Yemen have been found to be recklessly adventurous,” he noted.

“They give the impression that Iran thought that Saudi Arabia would be unable to take such a big decision while the United States was unwilling to disrupt its nuclear negotiations with Iran. This left the regional powers no choice but to defend their own interests.

“Perceptual errors have placed Iran in the midst of a crisis, confronting it with the Arab, Sunni and international majority. Should Iran fail to move quickly out of this confrontation, it will incur heavy losses with respect to its image, relationships and its position,” he added.

* Translated by Carla Mirza