The Houthis and Who Has the Upper Hand in Yemen: Prince Turki Al-Faisal Evaluates the Situation on the Ground

The former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, assessed the situation in Yemen and the extent of influence of the Iran-backed Houthi group, as well as reports indicating that the Houthis have the upper hand following their recent advances and control over new areas. This came during an interview conducted by Turki Al-Faisal on a podcast titled "Arab View," where he stated: "It is still an ongoing conflict, and there is no end in sight at the moment regarding what is called the Houthis having the upper hand."

He continued: "When the Houthis occupied Sana'a in 2013/2014, at that time it was also considered that the upper hand was with the Houthis, but with the help of the Kingdom (Saudi Arabia) and the coalition that the Kingdom established at that time, the legitimate government was able to maintain a presence not only in northern Yemen in Taiz and Khameer and other areas, but also in the eastern part of Yemen from Aden through Hadramaut to the Yemeni-Omani border.." He added: "There was a ceasefire that the Houthis agreed to in an attempt to negotiate a settlement, the Houthis recently violated this agreement and were able to expand their presence in areas along the Red Sea coast, but the legitimate government is resisting this expansion and we have to wait and see what will happen, and how this conflict will be resolved.." Prince Turki Al-Faisal went on to say: "I do not think we can just say that they (the Houthis) have achieved superiority in their advance, the story is still without an end." Regarding the motives behind the Houthis' recent movements, Prince Turki Al-Faisal said: "I am sure it is connected to the events in the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, the Iranian ambition has been clearly expressed by Iran, they want to have sovereign rights over the Strait of Hormuz and consider it Iranian territory, and this is unacceptable not only from Saudi Arabia's perspective but also from the perspective of international law.." He added: "All the straits in the region, Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab are international waterways and no country has sovereignty over them, we see the link here, Iran is trying to expand its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and they are pushing the Houthis to establish some kind of control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait on the other side of the Arabian Sea, both are certainly connected, and I am sure that without Iranian support and encouragement, the Houthis would not have undertaken this action."