U.S. Efforts to Rally Regional Powers Against Yemen Clash with Reality in the Red Sea
In a transparent attempt to rally regional powers against Yemen and halt naval operations supporting Gaza after the failure of American and European efforts, the U.S. military claimed that Yemeni Armed Forces targeted an oil tanker owned by the Saudi regime in the Red Sea. However, the Saudi sides swiftly denied the allegation, further exposing the U.S.’s failure in the Red Sea, not only on the battlefield but also in the realm of media.
Shortly after the U.S. Central Command released a statement claiming that Yemeni forces had attacked the Saudi-owned oil tanker “Amjad”, the Saudi state-owned company Bahri, which operates the vessel, issued a statement refuting the U.S. claims. Bahri confirmed, “The “Amjad” tanker was not targeted, nor sustained any damage or injuries, and continues its journey as planned without interruption.”
The American claims regarding the targeting of the Saudi vessel are part of ongoing attempts to rally regional states to act against Yemen’s operations supporting Gaza, under the pretext that these operations threaten overall maritime traffic in the region. However, Washington has failed to promote this narrative for more than ten months. International media, including U.S. outlets, have repeatedly reported that Yemeni operations are selectively targeting vessels linked to Israel, the U.S., the UK, and companies connected to occupied Palestinian ports.
Most Arab nations have refused to join the coalition formed by the U.S. under the name “Operation Sentinelle,” a stance that has highlighted the significant failure of American efforts to gather allies and proxies. This failure has persisted, with the U.S. unable to recover. Even when Washington pushed Saudi Arabia to escalate economically to pressure Yemen into halting its operations, Sana’a and the revolutionary leadership quickly forced Riyadh to abandon that approach.
American think tanks connected to intelligence services continue to propose involving U.S.-aligned Arab nations in efforts to stop Yemen’s operations supporting Gaza, as a way to compensate for the failures of the U.S. and Europe over the past ten months. Yet, these efforts consistently run into the same obstacle: it is widely known which ships are being targeted in Yemeni operational areas, and it is clear that there is no general threat to commercial traffic. This is reflected in the Saudi shipping company’s quick rejection of the U.S. allegations.
Moreover, Sana’a has established a deterrence equation that preempts any attempts by client regimes to escalate against Yemen. This is especially true for members of the coalition of aggression, who are well aware that any escalation against Yemen would come at a steep cost.