Saudi Arabia said its campaign of airstrikes in Yemen have succeeded in removing threats to the kingdom and other regional countries, bringing to an end Operation "Decisive Storm." As Bloomberg reports [6], the Saudi Defense Ministry said a coalition of mostly Sunni Muslim nations has “successfully eliminated the threat to the security of Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries,” by destroying the heavy weaponry and ballistic missiles held by the Shiite Houthi rebels. This comes one day after Gulf envoys told The United Nations that Yemen strikes won't end soon. Saudi Arabia hopes to restart a Yemeni political process and will begin "Operation New Hope," which appears to mean Saudi National Guard ground troops.
- *SAUDI-LED COALITION TO END OPERATION DECISIVE STORM IN YEMEN
- *SAUDI COALITION TO START `OPERATION NEW HOPE' IN YEMEN: ARABIYA
Coalition ends Operation Decisive Storm begins Operation Restore Hope in Yemen
— Saudi Embassy (@SaudiEmbassyUSA) April 21, 2015 [7]
Oil reacts... because war is over, right?
[8]
Of course it is also settlement day so Oil liquidty is thin at best and moves exaggerated.
* * *
As Bloomberg reports [6],
Saudi Arabia said its campaign of airstrikes in Yemen have succeeded in removing threats to the kingdom and other regional countries.
The operations by a coalition of mostly Sunni Muslim nations has “successfully eliminated the threat to the security of Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries,” by destroying the heavy weaponry and ballistic missiles held by the Shiite Houthi rebels, the Saudi Defense Ministry said in a statement late Tuesday carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. It didn’t say whether the campaign will continue.
The airstrikes were an attempt to roll back gains by the Houthis and force them to resume talks to resolve the country’s crisis. The rebels have driven Yemen’s Saudi-backed ruler, President Abdurabuh Mansur Hadi, into exile.
Saudi and other Gulf Arab officials accuse the Houthis and their allies of being tools of Iran, a charge they have denied.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, earlier on Tuesday expressed optimism that the bombing of Yemen would end “within hours,” citing unspecified diplomatic efforts. The Houthis have said they’re willing to resume talks on a political settlement in Yemen, though they say they won’t accept Hadi’s return to power.
* * *
But:
- *UN OFFICIAL COMMENTS ON SAUDI-LED COALITION OPERATIONS IN YEMEN
- *GULF ENVOYS TOLD UN YDAY YEMEN STRIKES WON'T END SOON: OFFICIAL
Meanwhile US warships continue to trawl the coast of Yemen...
This comes a day after U.S. Navy said aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was steaming toward the waters off Yemen to beef up security and join other American ships that are prepared to intercept any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels.
The deployment comes after a U.N. Security Council resolution last week imposed an arms embargo on Houthi leaders.
Arabian Sea -- USS Theodore Roosevelt and guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy conducting maritime security operations pic.twitter.com/WeRK68hsaa [9]
— US Mission to NATO (@USNATO) April 21, 2015 [10]
The Navy has been beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea in response to reports that a convoy of about eight Iranian ships is heading toward Yemen and possibly carrying arms for the Houthis. Navy officials said there are about nine U.S. warships in the region, including cruisers and destroyers carrying teams that can board and search other vessels.
And new Saudi King Salman has called up The National Guard [11]...
Saudi Arabia's King Salman has ordered the country's National Guard -- considered the Kingdom's best trained and equipped military force -- to join the military campaign against Iranian-backed Shiite rebels in neighboring Yemen.
National Guard troops had already deployed along Saudi Arabia's southern border with Yemen, but the order from Salman on Tuesday could pave the way for a long-discussed ground incursion into Yemen to confront the rebels, known as Houthis.
* * *
We suspect war is not over.
