The Houthis are heading north to the city of Saada. In recent hours, many fighters loyal to President Hadi managed to take control of positions in Aden, one of the most strategically important city, and four other positions in the hands of Shiites in the southern areas of the country. On July 21, President Hadi announced that it has appointed Naif Saleh Bakri Abdul Qader the new governor of Aden and Ahmed Salim Rubaih, first deputy governor. It is observed in the past 48 hours to a progressive collapse of the Houthi militias, but they will be able to regroup in the strongholds of the north and plan a counteroffensive in the coming days.

Strategic interests

Since the conquest of the capital Sana'a from Houthis and especially with the removal of President Hadi, the interest of the international community towards Yemen has risen. Saudi Arabia has immediately claimed the legitimacy of the government of Hadi, and finally armed intervention, in contemporary Iran has given support to the Houthi forces. Powerful international interests are affecting the current situation in Yemen, there is an indirect clash between the sunni Saudi kingdom and the shiite Islamic Republic. Saudi Arabia sees the advance of the Houthi as an attempted encirclement by Iran, while Tehran interprets the intervention of Riyadh as unlawful interference against the sovereignty of Yemen. Despite the limited economic capacities of Yemen, this is an highly valuable strategic hub. The Gulf of Aden is crossed annually by over 20,000 ships, with a traffic of approximately 3 million bpd. Saudi Arabia is greatly concerned about the positive outcome of the US-Iranian agreements that, according to Riyadh, it will significantly undermine the security of the kingdom. A final agreement on the Iranian nuclear program will be a strong incentive for Tehran to legitimize its influence in the region. Iran now controls the other crucial passage of crude: the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf; Saudi Arabia is determined to prevent Tehran puts its hands over the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, the fundamental passage to and from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. 

With the entry of international forces in the Yemeni dispute, the conflict has gradually lost its sectarian and local politician nature, to substantiate as a conflict with a strong regional impact, fundamental for the balance the area. The armed intervention of the coalition is not bringing the expected results by the Saudis, in fact, it is deteriorating the situation further, with a strong increase of weapons in the area, many victims among the civilian population and vast areas totally out of control in the hands of Islamist terror organizations . The United States persist in anti-terrorist activities with the use of drones against AQAP stations. What we see then is a typical paradox of the area, with a substantial collaboration between Iran and the US in the fight aganist ISIS in Iraq and Syria, while in Yemen the US support the Saudi coalition against the Houthis, supported by Tehran. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) asks Washington clarity on the willingness of the US to stand in defense of the Gulf countries in the event of a threat from Iran, while Obama calls for a uniform alignment between the countries of the GCC which gives them the ability to develop strategies for maintaining security in the region. From Syria to Yemen, the Sunni-Shiite conflict is destabilizing the entire Middle East, but it would be extremely dangerous to reduce what is happening to a sectarian battle, denying the regional, if not global, ongoing conflicts; gets the impression that the most influential powers of the area took advantage of a critical condition in the country to demand their interests. The greatest risk is that the conflict in Yemen could become even more hostile, with the presence of numerous players on the field ready to claim legitimacy and power. The influx of arms, favored by the non-existent control of the territory, is powering a further scenario of war in the region that can pose a security hazard in the area. Terrorist organizations benefit from years of crisis to increase personnel and equipment, as well as to take control of areas and infrastructure. The possibility that AQAP improves its ability, also in function of a competition with the ISIS, determines a risk highly probable and worrying.