Alwaght- After Iran-Saudi Arabia détente agreement was signed in March, many analysts expected it to constructively influence a solution in Yemen as soon as possible, but the developments of the past months have gone against the expectations. Saudi officials ostensibly claim that they are ready to end the 9-year war, but in the negotiations, they act in a way infuriating Ansarullah Movement.
The head of Yemen's Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat on Sunday said that Sana'a opposed a Saudi offer to pay the salaries of the state employees in return for transfer of revenues from Yemen oil and gas sales to Saudi central bank.
Al-Mashat continued that the Saudis want to “plunder our oil wealth and transfer it to their central bank and then pay sadaqa (charity) to our employees. This was rejected.”
He blamed the US for the Saudi treachery in the salary case and recommended that Washington should not build enemies for itself among the Yemenis since by blocking the payments, it pushes over 10 million Yemenis to its enmity.
“With God's will, we will work for salary payment and we will wrest them from the enemy's hands,” he continued.
Some sources said that Saudi Arabia's offer to Sana'a that Riyadh would pay the salaries of Yemeni workers for a year in Saudi Riyals in exchange for renewing the ceasefire and resuming Yemeni oil exports was made last January.
Sana'a asked Riyadh to stop exporting Yemeni oil so that Yemenis can take control of their own oil and gas resources. According to news sources, "Sana'a officials emphasized that the revenues from Yemeni oil exports are enough to pay the salaries of all employees.”
Saudi Arabia's obstruction in peace process comes while Ansarullah has repeatedly warned that Yemen's oil and gas resources belong to the people of this country and the revenues from it should be spent on the economy and livelihood of Yemenis, but the Saudis do not allow it.
Yemeni oil and gas revenues
In recent years, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have made huge revenues by plundering the Yemeni oil and gas, and according to the data published by Sana'a officials, from the beginning of 2021 to end of 2022, $11 billion of Yemen's sold oil and gas revenues were deposited in the Saudi banks.
According to the latest reports of the Aden-based, Saudi-affiliated Leadership Presidential Council (LPC), Yemen's oil exports have increased from 6.672 million barrels in 2016 to 25.441 million barrels in 2021, and all of their incomes go to Riyadh, while people of Yemen, who are the main owners of these resources, are living in disastrous conditions due to the war and economic blockade.
Injection of such huge financial sources into the Yemeni economy in this difficult situation can settle many of the economic problems of Yemen and save them from these critical conditions. The salaries of employees of the country, whose payment is Ansarullah's main condition for extension of the ceasefire, can be paid from these financial sources.
Ansarullah officials have warned that if the Saudi-led aggression coalition declines to transfer these sources to Sana'a, they will soon take the rights of the Yemenis using force. The last year drone attacks on Al-Dhaba oil terminal in Hadhramout province to block plunder of Yemeni oil was a warning shot from Ansarullah, and a similar attack is not unlikely in the future. Last month, Ansarullah spokesman Mohamad Abdel Salam warned the Arab coalition about Yemen's economic collapse as a result of the cruel siege.
By extending the ceasefire for another year, Saudi Arabia intends to hold Yemen's oil and gas revenues for itself and also to stop Ansarullah's missile and drone operations with this agreement, but Sana'a leaders consider state of no peace, no war playing into the hands of the enemy.
Although Ansarullah has voiced its readiness to resume negotiations and end the conflict, it remains doubtful about the real intent of the Saudis. In recent years, several rounds of ceasefire agreements were signed between Riyadh and Sana'a, but the Saudis never fulfilled their obligations and did not allow the Yemenis to take advantage of the benefits of these agreements for various reasons. Ansarullah refused to extend the ceasefire last year after six months, citing Saudi disloyalty.
Over the past two years, along with seeking peace Ansarullah has also improved its military power in order to retake the rights of the Yemenis from the Saudi coalition. Relying more on its arms than on Saudi words, it gained positive results from launching two-phase attacks on the Saudi oil infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to solidify its control over Yemen's gas and oil to instrumentalize their revenues against Sana'a and change the future equations as it wishes. But Ansarullah argues these sources should be spent on reconstruction of the country’s infrastructure and thus conflict of views is what bringing the negotiations to defeat.
Implementing US Iraq scenario in Yemen
Saudi Arabia and the US that do not want to lose Yemen's rich sources are resorting to other tricks to cut off Ansarullah's access to financial sources. Earlier, Ibrahim al-Siraji, the deputy head of the media department of the economic committee of the National Salvation Government (NSG) had said that since the end of Kuwait talks in 2016, the US has had a hand in Yemeni rial value slump in areas off the control of NSG.
Given these moves, we can can conclude that the Saudi scenario in Yemen is a copy of the US scenario in Iraq in place since 30 years ago. According to the agreement, the Iraqi incomes are deposited in the US and their spending is allowed for food and medicine purchases and meeting other humanitarian needs for ordinary citizens under American supervision. In other words, Iraq has no direct access to its financial assets. But the situation Yemenis are grappling with is different from that of Iraq, and millions are facing a serious food and medicine crisis, and according to the UN report, 70 percent of people are suffering from malnutrition and need immediate aids.
Since the very beginning of the war, Saudi Arabia eyes economic interests, and by transferring the central bank of Yemen to Aden, which was under the control of the resigned government, it tried to take over all the financial affairs of this country, and this gave it the power to foist its demands on Sana'a.
The government of Sana'a insists that any payment to government employees should be made through Sana'a channels, but the Saudi coalition opposes this demand. In order to tighten its foothold in Yemen, Saudi Arabia has made agreements with its allies in the provinces of Al-Mahra and Hadramaut in recent months to continue plundering Yemen's oil and gas, and in the meantime, it has the US and Britain support.
In addition to salaries, lifting the economic blockade and reopening airports and ports are other conditions of Sana'a for ceasefire renewal, but Saudi Arabia has not agreed to these demands and this is what dimming the prospects of peace.
Though Saudi Arabia intends to seize oil and gas from Ansarullah and pressure Sana'a-controlled northern regions, the transfer of revenues to Saudi banks will also negatively effect the living conditions of the southern regions since the locals need money for their business while the Aden-based central bank is powerless and should get its permits for payments from Saudi Arabia and this is disruptive to the business activities.
Despite regional initiatives to solve Yemen crisis, irrational Saudi demands have caused distrust between Sana'a and Riyadh and toughened the road to a settlement. To end this crisis and prevent a new round of clashes, the UN and regional powers should find a solution to save millions of Yemenis suffering from the misery of war as its continuation will also bring forth negative affects to regional countries.
