Last month, Yemeni militants fired a ballistic missile at the Riyadh airport, prompting the Saudi foreign minister to state that this was a declaration of war on his country by Lebanon. Hyperbolic though the statement may seem, there is indeed a link between the missile and Lebanon: namely, Hizballah, which asserts de-facto control over the government in Beirut. Uzi Rubin explains:
Hizballah does indeed have a presence in Yemen. For the past two years, it has been supporting the Houthi insurgents in their war against the Saudi-led coalition. In the course of that war, ballistic missiles have been regularly launched against Saudi Arabia’s major cities. . . .
While Iran has not officially joined the war, its extensive support of the Houthi side includes supplying weapons, dispatching military advisers and auxiliary troops, and generous financial support. Its involvement has transformed the Yemeni civil war into a major arena in the struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the future of the Middle East. . . .
Furthermore, Rubin explains, there is little doubt that the Houthis’ ballistic missiles, as well as many of their rockets and short-range missiles were developed in Iran. The implications are serious:
While the Yemeni civil war draws scant attention in Israel, it could have a significant impact on Israel’s security as well as on the stability of the entire Middle East. Yemen is a key country occupying a strategic location. It controls one of the seven maritime choke points on the planet: the Mandeb Strait. An Iran in control of Yemen might outflank Saudi Arabia from the south, close the Strait to Israeli shipping, and open the Red Sea to the Iranian navy, jeopardizing the security of Sudan and Egypt. This would be a veritable tectonic shift in the Middle East’s balance of power—one that could be another step toward a reincarnated Persian empire, this time under ayatollah management.
Read more on BESA Center: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/hezbollah-yemen-missiles/