Saudi Arabia is planning an offensive against Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, with options being considered including a coastal push to secure the Red Sea shipping route or an assault on multiple fronts, regional and Western officials told Reuters.
The operation, expected to be launched in the coming weeks, will by led by Yemeni forces on the ground, which are overseen by Riyadh, and supported by Saudi air strikes, according to six people with knowledge of the preparations, Reuters reported.
Riyadh is being supported by US and European countries in tangible terms against Houthis in Yemen. US is providing intelligence and some regional and European nations are providing mainly defensive military aid to the kingdom.
Mecca Pact partners i.e., Pakistan and Turkiye aren't expected to play a direct role in combat operations, said the people who requested anonymity to discuss security matters.
Saudi Arabia entered neighboring Yemen's civil war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition in support of the internationally recognised government, which the Houthis had driven out of the capital Sanaa.
A truce agreed between the warring parties in 2022 largely held until this year when the Houthis launched missiles and drone attacks on Saudi shipping and oil infrastructure in a spillover from the Iran war.
The key objective of the planned Saudi offensive is aimed at reversing the rapid gains made by the Houthis last month when they advanced down the coast and seized control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, according to the people with knowledge of the plans who include Gulf and Yemeni officials and Western diplomats, told Reuters.
The Saudis are considering two possible options for the assault, the Gulf and Yemeni officials said:
either a narrowly focused attack on the area around Bab el-Mandeb
broader offensive that also includes other synchronized attacks on multiple fronts around Yemen, in the governorates of Al-Bayda, Marib, Taiz and Al-Jawf.
More than 100,000 Yemeni troops could be mobilized in the offensive, depending on the scale, the officials all said.
After the degradation of Hezbollah in Lebanon in last three years, Houthis have became Iran's most formidable ally in the Middle East.
A Saudi-directed offensive against the group would mark a new flashpoint in a region engulfed by conflict since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel of October 7, 2023 and the subsequent US-Israeli war on Iran.