War in Yemen continues Despite Iran-Saudi Rapprochement

Thawing of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia was expected following the signing of China-brokered peace deal, but the war in Yemen, in which both countries are on rival sides, is still on.

The conflict in Yemen is seen by Western sources as an extension of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, where they have lent support of varying degrees to rival forces in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon. It started when Iran-backed Houti rebels took over the Yemeni government in 2014, and Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States and regional allies, started an operation to restore it. The latter’s goal is to bring the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi back to power.

The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.

On April 11, the Liaison and Coordination Officers’ Operations Room, which monitors violations of the Stockholm Agreement and Ceasefire in Hodeidah, reported 51 violations staged by U.S.-Saudi forces and mercenaries during the past 24 hours.

A source in the Operations Room told Almasirah that the violations included the flying of three spy drones and launching two air raids with spy drones in Hays district. They staged a violation with artillery shells and 45 violations with various bullets.

The Saudi-led coalition is often accused of violating the UN-backed agreement, reached between the warring sides during a round of UN-sponsored peace negotiations in Sweden in December 2018. It committed the parties to an immediate ceasefire in the city of Hodeidah and the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa, redeployment of forces, securing the ports, the establishment of the joint Redeployment Coordination Committee chaired by the United Nations, and the use of the revenues of the ports to support civil service salary payments.

On March 10, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to resume trade and diplomatic relations, and reopen embassies within two months, patching up a seven-year split by reviving a security cooperation pact. The foreign ministers of the two countries said they'll hold a meeting to implement this decision and make the necessary arrangements for the exchange of ambassadors.

The two countries also agreed on the implementation of the security cooperation agreement signed on April 1, 2001, as well as the general cooperation agreement signed on 27/05/1998.