As part of its China-brokered deal to re-establish diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, Iran has agreed to stop arming Yemen's Houthi rebels, the Wall Street Journal [12] has reported [13]. Officially, Tehran denies arming the rebels, who have been fighting forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognized government—including a Saudi- and United Arab Emirates-led coalition—for eight years. Regardless of the report's veracity, the deal between the regional rivals has put a renewed focus [14] on efforts to end the conflict in Yemen [15], which many have portrayed as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
It's actually far more complicated than that: the violence is rooted in real grievances, and political and military alliances are also at play at a much more local level. Powerful Yemeni actors [9]—all vying for a stake in the country's future—have often been left out of official peace talks [10]. Still, as analysts try to parse what the new Iran-Saudi deal means for stability in the Middle East [16] (or for Beijing's role as a diplomatic power player [17]), at least some of the focus is on what it means for Yemen.
From The New Humanitarian [18], March 17