Yemen, the US returns to insert the Houthis on the list of terrorist organizations
Huthi on the list of terrorist organizations. The move, which was unexpected until recently, is about to be made Joe Biden, which in this way would renounce the word and return to the positioning assumed by Donald Trump. A move that means that the United States definitively comes out of neutrality on a conflict that has been dragging on in a bloody way for several years now, even with the democratic president who had promised that he would bring peace and new agreements to the region, including Iran. Although he has always armed (together with several Western countries) the Gulf monarchies, he had for now avoided getting involved in the Yemeni affair. Indeed, Biden had rejected Trump’s decision to consider the Houthis a terrorist organization even in the hope of restarting the dialogue with their main sponsor, Iran.
It is no coincidence that that step is being taken now. And not only for the attack carried out in recent days by Shiite armed groups towards Abu Dhabi (to which the Saudis responded with raids on the Yemeni capital Sana’a, in the hands of the rebels), but also for a very precise strategic calculation. The geopolitical conformation of Middle East is in constant discussion and, after the retreat from the neighbor Afghanistan, Washington’s weight is steadily decreasing. That is why to explicitly take sides against the Huthi rebels, considered close to the great enemy of the United States in the area: Iran.
Gulf monarchies enthusiastic about Trump’s biden move
Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates they announced with great enthusiasm that they appreciated Biden’s openness to the reintegration of the Houthis on the list of terrorist organizations. Shortly after his inauguration, Biden removed from the list the pro-Iranian rebels who have been fighting a loyalist coalition led by Riad. In the following months, however, Shiite militiamen responded by intensifying drone attacks against opposing Saudi and Emirati civilian infrastructures, including airports and refineries. A bit like with the Taliban, Biden’s carrot has not served to lower tensions, but has actually intensified them. Emirati ambassador to Washington, Yousef al Otaiba, has publicly supported the inclusion of the Houthis on the list of terrorist organizations . “Ending a war requires the will of all sides and the Houthis don’t seem to want to.”
Biden takes back his word to stem China in the Middle East
But, as mentioned, there are also precise calculations behind it. With the Biden retreat from the area and the attempt at detente with Iran, the other countries in the area had begun to look elsewhere. Even to Israel, which has initiated a historic normalization of relations with the Gulf monarchies, starting with the United Arab Emirates. Then, of course, it goes to China, which has repeatedly demonstrated that it is capable of speaking both with the Sunni monarchies of the Gulf and with the Shiite Islamic Republic of Tehran.
Suffice it to stay in the news of recent days, when the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a series of separate summits with the counterparts of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain and after the meeting with the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf, which took place in Wuxi, in the province of Jiangsu. With a joint declaration of the meeting, the two sides promote the commitment to conclude negotiations on a China-GCC free trade agreement as soon as possible.
At the center of the talks with the Gulf countries, there was the rise in the prices of hydrocarbons which worries Beijing, the world’s largest crude oil importer. But it was also an opportunity to continue negotiations on a free trade agreement between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.
Beijing talks both with the Gulf and with Iran: financial and military agreements
But in addition to commercial issues, precise indications have also arrived at the political level. After meeting with Bahrain For example, a note has been released that claims that the Arab country is asking, jointly with Beijing, to not to politicize the issue of human rights. Music to the ears of the Chinese Communist Party, under US and Western attack for a variety of issues ranging from Xinjiang to Hong Kong.
Then there is the military aspect that should not be overlooked. Yes, because always in recent days China and Iran have begun to implement the terms of the mysterious super-agreement signed in March 2021. On the one hand, a new joint banking institution is about to be launched to circumvent the US dollar: an opportunity to relaunch the Chinese yuan internationally, on the other hand also a way to try to avoid American sanctions. There is also a military aspect, given that Beijing and Tehran are planning a trilateral naval military exercise.
The challenge between the United States and China thus risks leading to one new polarization in the Middle East, with the return to the classic alignments. At least from an American perspective. The move on the Houthis may in fact exacerbate tensions with Iran, in a dialogue that has never really taken off. Too much skepticism on the part of Tehran after the nuclear deal torn by Trump and the killing on Iraqi soil of General Suleimani. Not to mention the thrust of Israel, with which even the Gulf monarchies are ready to collaborate in an anti-Iranian perspective. The pax americana wobbles.
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