Iran seeks to prolong war in Yemen: experts

The Iranian regime is working through its local allies to prolong Yemen's war, experts tell Al-Mashareq, as this weakens its regional adversaries and allows it to infiltrate Yemen’s military, security and political apparatus.

"Iran is one of the primary beneficiaries of the war in Yemen," political affairs researcher Mohammed Azzan told Al-Mashareq.

Yemen's conflict enables the Iranian regime to provoke the coalition battling the Houthis (Ansarallah), he said, regardless of the devastation and destruction wreaked on Yemen as a result.

It also enables the Iranian regime to further infiltrate Yemen’s security, military and political apparatus under the pretext of supporting its allies, as it is doing in Lebanon and Syria , he said.

Expansionist ambitions

"Iran is causing infighting among Arabs under various justifications in order to hegemonise the entire region and fulfill its old imperial ambitions," Azzan said.

"The fact that Iran is benefiting from the war in Yemen is becoming more evident from the statements made by the Iranian Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces about his country’s ambition to establish bases in Yemen," he said.

During a November 26th gathering of naval zone commanders at the Iranian Army’s Naval Forces Command headquarters, IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri revealed that Iran seeks to establish bases in new areas.

"We need distant bases [for naval operations]. It may be possible one day to have military bases on the shores of Yemen or Syria, on islands, or we could have floating bases," he said.

This ambition could embroil Yemenis deeper in internal and regional conflicts, Azzan said, calling on "Iran's allies in Yemen to take a candid and decisive position to show that they will not be the gateway to Iran's ambitions in Yemen".

"The Transitional Authority in Yemen fought a war to preserve the unity of the country and end the Houthis' control of state institutions, especially after the storming of Sanaa," political analyst Mohammed al-Ghabri told Al-Mashareq.

"Iran wants to weaken its adversaries in the region through its allies who are advancing agendas that serve the interests of Iran , not Yemen," he said.

The ongoing war in Yemen is weakening the Iranian regime's regional adversaries, "while increasing the influence of its proxies, who work to serve its interests and advance its sectarian agenda", he said.

Proxy war

"Iran is pursuing two things in Yemen, the first is military bases and the second is fighters," said Abaad Centre for Strategic Studies director Abdulsalam Mohammed.

The regime does not seek to rule Yemen, but rather to keep it embroiled in conflict and chaos so it will be easier for it to achieve its strategic goal of threatening the security of Gulf states, he told Al-Mashareq.

"Hence, Iran is seeking to prolong the war further by strengthening the Houthis and preventing them from surrendering ," Mohammed said.

It is important for the Iranian regime that the Houthis remain an armed militia, he said, even if Yemen reaches a peace agreement, due to its proximity to regional adversary Saudi Arabia.

Establishing a military presence on the Yemeni coast also would help Iran to recruit armed supporters and create a military force allied with the regime that would threaten the security of Gulf states, Mohammed said.

The Iranian regime is "waging a soft war, meaning it is providing media, financial and military support and weapons to its allies [the Houthis] without directly using its army", political affairs researcher Adnan al-Humairi told Al-Mashareq.

"Iran may not need military bases in Yemen at the present time, because it is interfering through its allies inside the country who do all the work without Iran suffering direct losses," he said.

The regime wants to run a war by proxy "to exhaust its adversaries in the region and incite the peoples of those countries against their rulers in a war of economic attrition whose impact would be felt by the people", al-Humairi added.