Yemen Monitor / Marib / Exclusive:
Salman Al-Ansari, a prominent Saudi analyst and researcher, said that the Houthis “have begun to realize that Iran is no longer the same as before; therefore, they believe there are no political gains” from supporting Iran during its war against the United States and Israel, which has entered its fourth week.
This came in an interview with the American network CBC News at the end of last week. The Houthi leader had repeatedly expressed the group’s readiness to engage in the regional war depending on developments in Iran, saying, “Our hands are on the trigger.”
Salman Al-Ansari, who is the founder and chairman of the Saudi American Public Relations Affairs Committee (SAPRAC), said: “Yes, the Houthis, I believe, have begun to realize that Iran will no longer be the same Iran; therefore, they are starting to see that there are no political gains for them in moving forward and imitating Iranian practices in the region.”
He added: “Who knows, this may just be wishful thinking on my part, but I believe it is possible that we may see the Houthis emerge as a Yemeni group rather than an Iran-backed militia.”
CBC correspondent interjected: “But if they begin targeting ships in the Red Sea, the problem will become much more complicated.” Al-Ansari responded: “Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely… We can see that the main objective of the Iranian regime is to use all its proxies to harm the backbone of the global economy, which is the flow of energy and trade, and so on.”
He continued: “Why are they (the Iranians) doing this? Because they want to make Westerners, and American citizens, not only step back but also feel the burden and cost of this war; so that they can push the American public and Europeans to pressure their governments to stop this war.”
He concluded: “But reality will backfire, because I do not think it will work that way. We can now see that the Iranian regime is proving to itself, the region, and the entire world that it is an unpredictable state and cannot be trusted in any way.”
