Middle East Geopolitical Competition Between Iran And Saudi Arabia

Middle East region with its geostrategic importance,its marine corridors,and huge energy resources are making it a vital and strategic region of great importance in the world.For a long time,it has been overcome by international conflicts and was the field where international powers compete to occupy it in an attempt to control its geostrategic location and natural resources.Later,the Middle East region finds itself plagued onto a new round of deep crises where both great and regional powers are competing for dominance and power.The U.S.conquest of Iraq and the 2011 uprising intensified the competition and entered the region into a state of re-arrangement of the areas of influence of states.The Islamic Republic of Iran(IRI)and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia(KSA)are two competing power in the region,who have been involved in a hegemonic rivalry for increasing their power and dominance in Iraq,Syria,Lebanon,Yemen.Also,many other states became the battleground of their geopolitical competition,though they both use the ideology and sectarian as a drive for achieving their goals and many scholars describe it as a sectarian war.In Yemen recently,and due to its geopolitical and strategic significance the Saudi-Iranian competition intensified and took another curve by direct military intervention instead of war through proxies,which clearly demonstrated that the conflict is geopolitical and not sectarian,as each side seeks to control the geostrategic and important areas that increase its power and impose its hegemony over the region,where they found that Yemen is one of the most important regions that enhance their influence and dominance in the region.Therefore,in order to realize the reasons behind their intervention in Yemen and clarifying their geopolitical competition,this study will seek to answer the question: What are the geopolitical motives behind the Saudi-Iranian competition in the case of Yemen?Yemen's geopolitical importance and strategic location have increased the tension between Iran and KSA,as Yemen has sea views on two waterfronts by about 2500 km which overlooking the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden from the south,and the Red Sea from the west with many important islands scattered in its regional waters.Yemen direct overlooking on the Strait of Bab Al-Mandab,one of the most significant water crossings in the world,through Perim / Mayyun island which divided the strait into two parts make it as the bottleneck for the Red Sea,which links the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea with the Mediterranean Sea,and it controls trade and oil routes between East and West.So,political and economic motives are behind their involvement in Yemen.Riyadh and Tehran are looking to protect their interests and enhance their hegemony and influence in the region and controlling one of the most vital waterways in the world,expanding their area of hegemony,protecting borders and resources,and controlling oil and trade routes between east and west.While Saudi Arabia wants to achieve its geopolitical interests,protect its security,and its borders,and impose its hegemony in the region.On the other hand,Iran wants to find a foothold in a geostrategic position in the region,which enables it to control oil and trade routes which increases its hegemony,and besiege its enemies and place Tehran in a position of strength to impose its conditions and overcome the sanctions imposed on it.The Strait of Bab al-Mandab in the eyes of many is currently a conflict zone between Saudi Arabia and Iran.While Iran sees it as one of its security axes linked to its interests in the region,Saudi Arabia's considered it as a high-security threat region.Generally,the study contained five chapters: Chapter one covers the introductory part that explaining the background to the study and giving a clear idea about the literature review from different authors and researchers.This chapter also clarifies the significance of conducting this study and the method used which relying on case analysis and process tracing.It is based on historical,analytical and comparative approaches gathered through collecting primary and secondary data.It also contains the objectives of the study and the theoretical framework which I applied the geopolitical theory which was completely different from previous researchers who applied realism or the constructivism theory in the Saudi-Iranian competition.In this study,I concentrate on “Alfred Mahan's sea power theory” in which he saw that sea power is most important and it was the reason for the British Empire flourishing and dominance in the past.Mahan identified several passages and checkpoints that led Britain to command the sea.He also gave six fundamental elements for a country to have a sea power and if we look to Mahan's “fundamental elements” we can see the importance of Yemen and the reason behind the super and regional power interests' and their involvement in Yemen.His first element about the geographical position and Yemen has a strategic and important position.It has about 2500 km of the serviceable coastline with more than 15 seaports and it has a huge of gas and oil resources and this was his second element.Yemen also has extent territory with favorable climate and largest population between the Gulf States.So from all these,we can see the geopolitical importance of Yemen and the reasons behind the Iranian-Saudi competition in Yemen.The second chapter shows a clear background about the KSA and Iran competition aspects in the ME region in the context of geopolitics and how it differs from one stage to the other and increases from bad to worse most of the time.It shows how Iran and Saudi Arabia worked under Nixon “Twin-pillar” policy as two regional allies protecting US interests in the region,and they both support the Mutawakkil monarchy(belong to Shia)in Yemen,and Tehran sent Iranian forces to protect Saudi borders after the success of Nasser,by supporting Republican revolution and defeating the Mutawakkil monarchy.All these changed completely after the “Islamic Revolution” in Iran in “1979” which upturned the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.Chapter two also show the different development and events that widened the difference and deepened the conflict as the Iranian–Iraqi war,the first Gulf War(1991),the American conquest of Iraq(2003),and lately the Arab Spring revolutions(2011)which greatly altered the balance of power in the ME region and its geopolitical structure.It also discusses the Iranian nuclear issue as well as their oil competition and its implications on their relations.Chapter three illustrates the Saudi Iranian involvement and their diplomatic background with Yemen.Yemen and KSA have a long history of relations that differed from time to time and varied between ups and downs,tensions and attractions,While Iran on the other hand,did not have so strong ties with Yemen before.Chapter three also explains the Yemen crises and how Iran and Saudi Arabia being involved in the crisis.It discusses the Yemeni revolution in 2011 which Iran saw it as an extension of its Islamic revolution,while Saudi Arabia backed by the U.S.and all the GCC states tried to mediate by taking the initiative on April 3,2011,to calm the Yemeni youth revolution and formulate several suggestions for the transfer of power in Yemen by announced a settlement in which previous president Saleh would abandon his authority in exchange for immunity.Saleh finally signed it on November 23,2011,in Riyadh with the presence of king Abdallah.Iran,on the other hand,refused the Gulf initiative and saw it as an attempt to take the Yemeni people out of the equation and start to work against it.Iran and its allies(Houthis)position suddenly shift to the square of the counter-revolution,in an announced alliance with previous President Saleh and the remnants of his regime.Though all the Yemenis went to “The National Dialogue Conference” and it took negotiations about all the issues which can resolve all Yemen problems.Just weeks after the NDC's conclusion and the Houthis' rejection of the federal plans with six regions,they start to expand their power and move further to the capital Sanaa and launched a military offensive against president Mansour Hadi,and his government and put them under the house arrest.They controlled the capital Sanaa and expand to the economic capital of Yemen(Aden)and Bab Al-Mandab strait which many saw it as the red line that the Houthi crossed which led to the direct military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies and the announcement of the so-called “decisive storm”.Chapter four discusses the Saudi Iranian geopolitical motives in Yemen and the real reasons behind their intervention.It started by showing the geopolitical significance of Yemen as “a country positioned in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula”,having about 2500 km of coastline overlooking the Arabian Sea,Gulf of Aden,and the Red Sea with more than 15 seaports,tens of strategic islands and supervising one of the most essential water crossings in the world.All that and its natural resources made it a source of interest for regional and international power throughout history.This chapter concentrates more on showing the geopolitical motives behind Iran and KSA involvement in Yemen.All these two regional power want to be dominant in the region and looking to protect their interests and enhance their hegemony in a zero-sum game where the win for one means a loss for the other.They want to expand their influence and control over Yemen's strategic location and controlling Bab Al-Mandab strait,so they can expand their hegemony and having direct control over oil and trade routes between east and west.KSA has political and economic interests,it wants to protect its security and its borders as well as it is looking to get access to the Arabian sea through Yemen to export its oil away from the Iranian threat in Hurmuz strait through oil supply pipeline to Al-Mahra government.Control over Yemen will increase its influence and impose its power to become a regional dominant.Likewise,UAE also under the Saudi led coalition took the chance to control the economic and strategic position in Yemen as Socotra and Perim islands and strategic ports.It wants to get back the port of Aden,whose agreement was canceled with Dubai Ports,and an agreement was signed with Beijing to operate the port in 2013.On the other hand,Iran wants to find a foothold in a geostrategic position in the region,which enables it to control oil and trade routes through both Hurmuz and Bab Al-Mandab straits which will increase its hegemony and besiege its enemies and places Tehran in a position of strength to impose its conditions and overcome the sanctions imposed on it.Chapter five is the final one through which I conclude and give my opinion about what is going in Yemen.Saudi Arabia and Iran don't want stability and prosperity in Yemen and they who fuel conflicts and chaos to carry out their plans and their ambitions to control Yemen.Neither Saudi Arabia nor Iran cares about what happens to Yemen.