Saudi Arabia, UAE occupied Yemen for US interests: analysts says

Saudi Arabia launched the war on Yemen, more than four years ago, to follow orders from the United States, which is striving for dominance in the Middle Eastern region, with the aim of maintaining the security of Israel, says an analyst.

Author and Middle East expert, Saeb Shaath, made the remarks to Press TV, when he was asked why Saudi Arabia has been spending so much money and so much of its reputation to continue this war against Yemen.

“The whole thing is not the war for Saudi Arabia,” he pointed out.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, “to dominate Yemen and to destroy Yemen as well for the interest of the United States of America to control the waterways and the strategic position of Yemen.” he said.

The expert further stated that Yemen is “a country occupied by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, carrying (out) the orders of the United States of American to destroy this country.”

Senior US congressional defense adviser, Fredrick Peterson, who was also speaking to Press TV, however, labeled the war on Yemen as a “civil war,” which is supported by “external powers.”

“It is a civil war against an established government, which allowed the free flow of resources through the area,” said Peterson.

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“They (the US and Saudi Arabia) are assisting the Yemeni government to protect itself against rebel forces which are heavily supported with arms with personnel and with guidance from external powers.” he pointed out.

Shaath, however, argued Peterson's remarks, saying that Riyadh was ordered to finance the war on Yemen as soon as it was clear that several existing movements in Yemen “agreed to share power.”

“This (agreement) was not pleasant news for Americans or the Saudis; Yemen was to reconcile their difference so the war started,” he said.

He also concluded that the country’s Houthi/Ansarullah movement and the Yemeni army “stood for four and a half year against the Saudi-Western back(ed) war of aggression in Yemen.”

The Saudi-led war has so far taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.

The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

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www.presstv.co.uk