This morning the Washington Post carried an interview with John Jenkins, former British ambassador to Iraq, in which he enunciated the view of the “international community” that a nuclear deal with Iran was the key to stemming the chaos in Yemen. “The negotiations are one of the guarantees that things won’t blow up,” opined the Ambassador.
That would be the very chaos that Iran ignited in the first place by backing the Houthi rebels who have forced Yemeni President Hadi to flee the country in the wake of the very real threat of imminent assassination.
But what accounts for Iran’s interest in Yemen? Why all of the weapons, training, boots-on-the ground, and intelligence pouring in to the Houthis from Iran? Reports ynetnews.com:
“The ayatollahs of Iran seek to take control of the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb so they can determine who can cross the Red Sea to the Suez Canal,” says Dr. Yasser bin Hilal, a political science lecturer at the University of Sana’a, who traveled to Washington in an attempt to shake up the administration and the intelligence agencies.
Dr. bin Hilal did not meet with much success in Washington, however. For at 2 a.m. Thursday morning, without consulting the U.S., Saudi Arabia, backed by four allied states, began air strikes against Houthi positions in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
Once again, Obama looked lame: Why did no one tell him about the Saudi plan earlier? Both the U.S. and the Saudis are downplaying the significance of this, with an American official offering that “we have their [the Saudis’] back, providing them with unique and indispensable capabilities to facilitate their actions.” And Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington, agreeing that “When push comes to shove, this relationship is unshakable.”
Right.
If you were Saudi, would you trust the Obama administration? Would you rely on any intelligence provided by it? John McCain doesn’t think so. In his opinion, the reason the Saudis didn’t coordinate their attack with their great ally and best friend is that “they can no longer rely on the United States of America. … And it is unacceptable that we are negotiating a bad nuclear deal and at the same time turning a blind eye to Iranian aggression, whether it be in Lebanon, in Damascus, in Baghdad or now in Sanaa.”
Iranians are busy creating mischief throughout the Middle East. And the only way to stop them is to give them a nuclear weapons agreement that they will accept. At least, according to the “international community.” But this is ass-backwards. What’s holding them back in Yemen and elsewhere is precisely the possibility that they won’t get the deal. Once they get their deal, we will have given up all leverage and nothing will stop a Middle East conflagration.
