Houthis continue to squander peace opportunities in Yemen
The Arab Alliance backing the legitimate government in Yemen has managed to intercept and destroy three ballistic missiles and a number of explosive-laden drones which the Iran-backed extremist Houthi militia launched from Sana'a towards civilian targets inside Saudi Arabia.
This interception occurred in the wake of the agreement that overcame the differences between the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), and contained the dispute between both parties before it further escalated.
The agreement included a comprehensive ceasefire and the return to the Riyadh agreement as the best ways to achieve peace and take into consideration the priorities needed to bring Yemen out of its crisis.
Much like Iran, the Houthi militias tend to squander any opportunity for peace and for bridging the gulf between brothers.
Rivers of blood and situations of chaos and turmoil constitute the best environment for them to establish their project and fulfil their expansionist dreams.
In light of the setbacks and frustrations suffered by Tehran in trying to carry out its projects, the Houthis are floundering in their subversive and destructive designs.
By doing so, they hope to undermine the chances of peace and stability in Yemen while trying to impose Iran's agenda on their country's realities and mortgage Yemen's present and future based on the priorities of an outside power.
Just hours separated the successful interception of Houthi missiles and explosive-laden drones aimed at Saudi Arabia, on the one hand, and Washington's presentation of a draft resolution calling for an extension of the arms embargo on Iran and condemning its attacks on Aramco, on the other hand.
This step will increase pressure on Tehran, thwart its projects and reveal its realities to the international community, especially the capitals that are still betting on Iran's illusory rationality.
These capitals are also still betting on negotiation as a way to reduce Tehran's ideological spasms and silence the guns of its aggressive militias, including the isolated Houthis in Yemen and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.
The latter is now mired in a host of problems ranging from Lebanon's woes to the implications of Syria's Caesar Act, which is likely to usher in a new round of tough restrictions.
Riyadh continues to urge all Yemeni parties to try to reach an understanding towards a comprehensive solution, seize on opportunities for peace and strive for a way out of the crisis.
But the Houthis' predictable intransigence has again and again manifested itself by the militias’ rejection of the UN envoy Martin Griffiths' proposals, which have been accepted a while ago by the legitimate government in Yemen.
The coalition promotes peace proposals, by mitigating internal conflicts, containing the fire and stopping the arrival of arms supplies.
These efforts are made to block the path of any vindictive impulses that would like the war to drag on, without attention to the suffering of the Yemenis and the continued drift of their country to the unknown.
International campaigns to discredit Saudi Arabia try to undermine the coalition's work in Yemen.
However, malicious propaganda ploys, financed and supported by the regional opponents of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, do not deceive the observers of Yemeni affairs any more.
That being said, the removal of the Arab Coalition from the UN blacklist of warring parties harming Yemen children is the best answer to such campaigns.
Omar Ali al-Badawi is a Saudi journalist.
