On March 28, exactly one month on from the launch of the joint US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Houthis claimed two missile and drone attacks against Israel. There had been speculation since the beginning of the war that the Houthis would eventually join the hostilities on the side of their ally, Iran, but why did the…

Editor’s Note: This analysis first appeared in The Week in Yemen, the Sana’a Center’s weekly report series. During a meeting in Riyadh, the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) discussed the implementation of the government’s 2026 program alongside projected state budget figures. The draft program—a copy of which was viewed by the Sana’a Center—is structured into three tiers: a situational assessment, the…

The ongoing Iran War is reshaping the region in ways that exceed all prior projections, compelling all parties involved in the conflict, or affected by it, to reposition themselves and reconsider the assumptions that have long guided their decisions. What is unfolding is not simply a redrawing of the balance of power in the region. More fundamentally, Iran and its…

As the war on Iran continues to wreak havoc in the region, Yemen has been conspicuously absent from the escalating conflict. All eyes are on the Houthis, who have so far been reluctant to join the war. Should the Houthis mobilize, or should Israel and the US attack Yemen unprovoked, the threat to Sana’a, Yemen’s crown jewel and one of…

The war against Iran by the US and Israel is unleashing chaos across the region. Since the launch of the joint military offensive in the early hours of February 28, Iran’s death toll has reached the thousands, and its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed. Tehran’s retaliation continues to widen, with missiles and drones being fired at Israel,…

It took the Houthis less than three days to announce their military and political support for Gaza in the wake of the events of October 7, 2023. By October 19, they had fired their first missile toward Israel. Just one month later, they hijacked the Galaxy Leader ship and launched their campaign to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea. This…

On February 28, the US and Israel began a massive air offensive against Iran, targeting its leadership, command and control, and intelligence sites across the country. On March 1, Iranian media confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed, by which point airstrikes had expanded to military targets and nuclear facilities, and Tehran had begun to retaliate, firing…

Recent developments in Yemen have broken years of stagnation, bringing the country into an explosive new era. The Southern Transitional Council’s (STC) initial expansion into the eastern governorates, and its subsequent loss of territory and dissolution under Saudi pressure, have revealed the fragility of the Gulf powers’ “containment” approach to Yemen. This strategy, which has traditionally relied on sharing influence…

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates predate the recent confrontation in Hadramawt, stemming from a deeper rift that was already apparent at the start of the coalition’s campaign in Yemen. From the outset, the two powers pursued distinct goals, influenced by broader economic ambitions and long-standing strategic competition that extended well beyond Yemen’s borders. The friction between…

The Al-Wadea border crossing between Yemen and Saudi Arabia was established in September 2003, coinciding with efforts by both countries to enhance coordination and cooperation amid the security challenges posed by terrorism. Before the war, the crossing was used for the movement of Yemeni travelers to and from Saudi Arabia, but its activity remained limited due to the existence of…