RIYADH (Dispatches) – Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud has revealed that Riyadh and Washington are engaged in a “robust dialogue” on ending the military conflict in Yemen, after receiving stern reprisals from popular forces in Yemen.
The U.S. provided intelligence support for the Saudi coalition operating in Yemen since 2015, with the goal of defeating the Houthi Ansarullah forces and reinstating former president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, whom they had ousted in 2014. Washington also sold weapons to two members of the coalition – Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
However, the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, purportedly caused by the coalition’s actions and embargo, prompted U.S. lawmakers in 2019 to demand a cessation of arms sales to these countries.
In the latest development in the country, Yemeni armed forces continue their advance on the strategic city of Ma’rib against Saudi-backed militants and mercenaries.
Local reports say September Ansarullah resistance fighters have liberated 10 out of 14 districts in the oil-rich province.
In light of the rapidly changing situation on the battlefield in Yemen, the Yemeni armed forces have managed, after days of intense fighting, to liberate four districts in the Shabwa Governorate, and two in the Marib Governorate, in record time.
Many tribes, political, social and military figures, began to open channels of communication with the Sana’a government.
This comes while the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg and the American mediation team shuttling between the Saudi and Omani capitals have so far failed to achieve any result, which may leave the Saudis with the single option of responding to the demand to lift the Riyadh imposed air, sea and land blockade.
Washington and Riyadh are still unable to comprehend how the recent actions of the Sana’a resistance forces secured several strategic goals at such record speed giving them a future advantage in reaching the shores of the Arabian Sea for the first time since the beginning of the war, as well as controlling oil and gas sources and the governorates of Shabwa and Ma’rib.