Ansarallah Forces Seek to Pressure Salman by Disrupting Investment Events Vital to Saudi Arabia, Aiming to Push Trump to Ease Blockade on Iran / Bin Salman Faces a Dilemma: Escalating Tensions Risks a Wider War That Could Undermine His Economic Transformation Plan, Yet Concessions May Strengthen a Group That Has Challenged Riyadh's Power for Years

Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia Go Beyond Yemen. According to Saudi, Iranian and regional sources, the Houthis are targeting infrastructure and disrupting investment events vital to Saudi Arabia's economic goals, seeking to pressure Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to both accept the Houthis' demands in Yemen and persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to ease the economic blockade on Iran.

Reuters wrote: Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia are beyond the issue of Yemen. According to Saudi, Iranian and regional sources, the Houthis are trying to put pressure on Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, by targeting infrastructure and disrupting investment events that are of central importance to Saudi Arabia's economic goals, to accept the demands of the Houthis in Yemen and to encourage US President Donald Trump to ease the economic blockade against Iran.

According to the selection report, it is further stated that this campaign shows a calculation on the part of Iran and the Houthis: the prosperity of Saudi Arabia, the ambitions of this country in the field of investment and its vulnerability to disruptions have turned this country into a vulnerable point for exerting pressure in a confrontation that stretches from the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf to Bab al-Mandab in the Red Sea.

Michael Knights from the strategic consulting institute "Horizon Engage" said that Iran is trying to increase the cost of the American strategy by targeting Washington's regional partners after the war that the US and Israel started on February 28.

The Houthis are directly interested in easing the US blockade against Iran, their most important regional ally.

But according to two Saudi sources and three regional sources familiar with Saudi views, the Houthis also have independent demands: the end of Saudi military operations and the restrictions imposed on Yemeni ports and airports and the establishment of regular flights to Iran.

A senior regional official said the Houthi attacks are part of a broader strategy by Iran and its allies to shift the regional balance of power.

He said that Riyadh cannot rely on the support of the United States and should look for negotiations instead. The official added that the Houthi attacks will continue until Saudi restrictions are lifted.

However, according to sources familiar with the views of Saudi Arabia, this strategy has put Mohammed bin Salman in front of a dilemma: the escalation of tensions carries the risk of a war that could undermine his economic transformation plan; But the concession may also strengthen a movement that has challenged Saudi power for years.

The longer this conflict lasts, the more the threat to Saudi Arabia's security, investors' confidence and the country's "Vision 2030" program will increase.

The Saudi government's media office and Iran's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mohammad Abdussalam, the spokesperson of the Houthis, rejected the claim that this group is acting on the orders of Iran. He said that the demands of the Houthis are focused on long-standing humanitarian issues related to Saudi Arabia, and include lifting restrictions on Yemeni ports and airports, reducing economic restrictions, and paying public sector employees' salaries from Yemen's own resources.

He said: "Our humanitarian demands have nothing to do with Iran or any other party."

Disruption in important economic conferences

Saudi Arabia has faced an increasing wave of Houthi attacks during the past week; Among the deadly attacks on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and an attack on the Aramco company, the world's largest oil exporter and one of the main pillars of the Saudi economy, which caused a fire and the fire spread to several floors.

These attacks disrupted the important oil conference in Riyadh and caused the senior managers of oil companies to withdraw from attending it. It has also prompted organizers of the Future Investment Initiative (FII), the annual global investment forum, to enable remote participation.

The Houthis have a history of attacking deep into Saudi Arabia. In 2019, attacks on Aramco facilities temporarily disrupted about five percent of global oil supply.

These attacks were carried out after Riyadh intervened in the Yemeni war in 2015, following the Houthi takeover of Sana'a. The war ended in a bloody stalemate, and a ceasefire was finally established in 2022.

However, Abdulaziz Saqr, head of the Saudi-based Persian Gulf Research Center, said Saudi leaders now see military pressure as their only viable option.

"They have reached a point where there is no more negotiation," he said. They have no choice but to take military action."

Fawaz Georges, a Middle East analyst at the London School of Economics, said the Houthis increasingly see themselves in a position of power to negotiate and demand the recognition of their authority in Sana'a and the easing of restrictions against Yemen.

He said: "What the Houthis are demanding now is peace from the position of victory."

According to sources familiar with the views of Saudi Arabia, since the bombing of Houthi positions last year, in response to their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, the United States has shown little desire to start another long-term military campaign against the group. After those bombings, Washington agreed to a ceasefire with the Houthis.

Washington's reluctance has left Riyadh facing a conflict in which military pressure alone may not produce decisive results.

Saudi Arabia has more to lose

Sources told Reuters last month that at the start of the Houthi campaign, Mohammed bin Salman asked Trump for help against the group, but Trump refused to agree to US strikes.

Washington instead offered assistance in targeting and information sharing. Trump later said he was considering possible action against the Houthis, but appeared to delay a possible response until after the US midterm elections.

The US State Department referred to the previous statements of Trump and Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State; Statements in which Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia were condemned. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Analysts warn that missiles and drones have increased the risk of turning this conflict into a war of attrition by revealing the vulnerabilities of the Saudi defense system; The war that the Houthis think is in their favor is the passage of time and geographical location.

Aaron David Miller, the former American negotiator, said that the superiority of the Houthis is not only limited to their position near the strategic bottleneck of Bab al-Mandab, but also stems from the difference in the amount of assets and interests that the two sides have put at risk.

He said: "Saudi infrastructures are much more valuable than Houthi infrastructures. "They have much less to lose than the Saudis."

Fazgh al-Moslami, a Yemen analyst, said: "We are moving towards the worst imaginable outcome; A war worse than the war of 2015. This time it will be bloodier, and Saudi Arabia will enter it with fewer allies."

He added that no successful campaign against the Houthis is possible without the alliance of the Persian Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.