Why is Saudi Arabia in Yemen and what does it mean for Britain?

When did Saudi Arabia enter the war?

In March 2015 a Saudi-led coalition began bombing Houthi rebels who had forced Yemen’s president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, into exile. This week’s visit to the UK by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, has refocused attention on the conflict.

Why is Saudi Arabia attacking the Houthis?

Saudi Arabia regards the Houthis as Iranian proxies and intervened to check their advance. The Saudi air war is in support of forces loyal to Hadi, who aim to retake the capital, Sana’a, from the Houthis.

Have there been breaches of humanitarian law?

The Saudi-led coalition has been repeatedly accused by rights groups of unlawful airstrikes on civilian targets, some of which, they say, may amount to war crimes. Riyadh insists it does all it can to avoid civilian casualties, though a UN panel of experts that reviewed 10 Saudi airstrikes reported in January that “even if the Saudi Arabia-led coalition had targeted legitimate military objectives … it is highly unlikely that the principles of international humanitarian law of proportionality and precautions in attack were respected”.

The panel found Saudi denials of involvement in these specific airstrikes were implausible, and individuals responsible for planning, authorising or executing the strikes would meet the standard for the imposition of UN sanctions.

The panel also found Houthi forces had indiscriminately shelled civilian-populated areas, especially in Taiz.

Is the UK complicit?

The UK supplies weapons to Saudi Arabia and has provided targeting training to its soldiers, prompting accusations by rights groups and opposition MPs of partial responsibility for civilian casualties in Yemen.

The government argues, with high court backing, that the supply of weapons to the Saudis does not breach UK arms export licence laws since, it says, there is no clear risk of a serious breach of humanitarian law by the Saudi coalition. Ministers deny that UK forces are advising the Saudis on specific targets, though they admit that, after a raid, British officers can give advice on future targeting policy.

What about access to aid?

Saudi Arabia imposed a blockade on Yemen’s air, sea and land borders in November 2017 in response to Houthi rebels firing missiles towards Riyadh airport, closing an aid lifeline to tens of thousands of starving Yemenis.

In December it said it was lifting the blockade of Hodeidah port, the main port for shipping aid, and in January it announced an aid package for Yemen. However ,humanitarian groups are still pushing for completely unrestricted access to ports across the country.

Does Saudi military action in defence of Hadi have UN backing?

The UN recognises the government of Hadi, who is currently in exile in Riyadh. But support for the UK-US position at the UN is fraying. At the end of February Russia vetoed a UK draft resolution that included a condemnation of Iran for violating the UN arms embargo in Yemen over claims that it supplied the missiles used by the Houthis that were fired towards Riyadh.

Instead the UN security council passed a narrower Russian resolution reinstating the arms embargo but making no mention of imposing sanctions on Iran for supplying missiles. The Russians said claims of Iranian-supplied missiles were not verified. The Saudis may have taken the episode, and Russian veto, as a sign that the UN cannot solve the crisis in Yemen.

Is a ceasefire achievable?

Two developments in recent months have risked making an already stalemated war even more intractable. In December in Sana’a, Houthi rebels who had taken over the city in 2014 with help from forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh killed the former president. The Houthis had accused him of changing sides and taking a conciliatory approach to Saudi Arabia.

In January fighters allied with the pro-secession Southern Transitional Council (STC) surrounded the presidential palace in Aden, the seat of the internationally recognised government of Yemen. Their presence forced the prime minister to flee and demonstrated that an unlikely bond between the two in their fight against Houthi rebels had come to an end.

Saudi Arabia has not given up on a military victory but its differences with its greatest ally in the Middle East and coalition partner the United Arab Emirates over the next steps has made a solution harder to achieve. The UAE is close to the STC, and reports recently emerged that it was blockading the supply of money for Saudi-backed government public sector workers.

The UK is working behind the scenes to drive progress. In February it used its diplomatic influence to secure the appointment of a former Foreign Office diplomat, Martin Griffiths, as the new Yemen special envoy. He hopes to hold talks in Muscat, Oman.