Yemen Civil War in the Shadow of Proxy Wars: The Iran-Saudi Nexus

Abstract

The Arab Spring uprisings that began in Tunisia quickly spread to many countries in the region with social problems. One of these countries was Yemen. After 2009, Yemen, which had been unable to solve its problems since the 1962 coup d’état, was once again plunged into civil war. People were tired of the country’s problems for a long time and supported the uprising, thinking it would be a way out to resolve the conflicts as soon as possible. However, the civil war in Yemen was not limited to the Yemeni people. Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two strategic rival powers in the geography of the Middle East, took the political power struggle between them to Yemen and intervened indirectly in the internal politics of the country. This intervention put the concept of "proxy wars" on the agenda. Yemen is strategically located. The success of the Houthis, who control the Gulf of Aden, in controlling international trade has focused all eyes on the country. The hypothesis of this study is that Saudi Arabia and Iran are waging a proxy war in the Yemeni civil war by supporting some groups in the country. In order to test the hypothesis, the study sought to answer the following research questions What is the concept of proxy war? Why did Yemen become involved in a civil war? From which countries did the warring parties in the country receive external support? How did Iran and Saudi Arabia interpret developments in Yemen and which groups did they support? The study concludes that Saudi Arabia, which does not want Shia communities in the Middle East to gain position and strength, is supporting the government wing in Yemen for this purpose, while Iran wants to consolidate its regional position by supporting the Shia Houthis. In fact, Iran and Saudi Arabia intervened in the civil war in Yemen, which is an independent sovereign state, and intervened in the internal problem of the country through various groups.