The peace process in Yemen is taking a back seat, overshadowed by the US-Iran conflict.
Despite meetings in April between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, held in Amman under UN auspices, analysts and officials say the goal of comprehensive peace in Yemen is unrealistic and unattainable as long as regional conflicts with Iran persist.
“Right now it's about containment, not peace,” said Yemeni researcher Maysaa Shuja Al Deen from the Sanaa Centre for Strategic Studies. She said one obstacle was the US redesignating the Iran-linked Houthis a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) when President Donald Trump began his second term, after they had been removed a year before.
“There's an American veto for peace with the Houthis and FTO designation – so comprehensive peace with the Houthis is far-fetched and cannot happen, except if there was a comprehensive agreement in the region,” Ms Shuja Al Deen added.
Additionally, the Houthis pose a strategic threat to Saudi Arabia from their home base in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which they took over in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen share a 1,300km border, which includes areas under Houthi control in the Yemeni north-west. With drones that can reach as far as Tel Aviv – around 2,500km away – the Houthis are still able to fire at the kingdom and disrupt maritime traffic in the Red Sea as they did following Israel's attacks on Gaza after October 7, 2023.
Experts say Saudi Arabia's focus is on border security, de-escalation and maintaining calm in the Red Sea, particularly with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz which has halted 20 per cent of the world's maritime traffic.
The talks in Amman culminated in the release of 1,600 detainees, after more than 14 weeks of negotiations, the UN said.
“The prisoner exchange was the main trust-building measure between the Houthis, Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognised government,” said the head of the US-based Basha Report Risk Advisory, Mohammad Al Basha. More contentious issues await further discussions. including the lifting of restrictions on Sanaa International Airport, access through Hodeidah's ports and the payment of public servants, he added.
The Yemeni government, meanwhile, is being sidelined, as it has been since the start of the peace agreement in 2022. Speaking to The National, Yemen's deputy foreign minister Mustapha Al Noman confirmed the government has no negotiating team in place.
“There's nothing in the works now,” he said on whether the government will be involved in peace talks. “The negotiating team is in the process of being formed.”
Yemen is currently in “crisis-management” mode, he added, referring to recent events in which rifts in the government have developed, and major projects and public services have ground to a halt.
