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Sanaa, Yemen Ammar Saleh, a 32-year-old teacher in Sanaa, watched Monday as the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, announced naval blockade in Saudi Arabia.
Then, on Wednesday, the Houthis announced that they would attack two Saudi ships – an announcement that they were determined to implement a maritime embargo against their northern neighbor. The Houthis accuse Saudi Arabia of besieging rebel-held areas in Yemen, which is why they accept the Houthi attack.
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Whatever the conflict, the news has come as a shock to Yemenis like Ammar, many of whom now believe that the four-year period of calm in the more than decade-long war is about to end.
Ammar believes that Sanaa and other Yemeni provinces controlled by the Houthis could also become battlegrounds and could be affected by the lack of oil and the growing crisis.
“Imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia is not going to be easy, and we will not be immune to its consequences,” Ammar told Al Jazeera.
While many civilians are worried about the collapse of the resolution against Saudi Arabia, Houthi supporters are describing it as a step towards ending what they see as Riyadh’s control over Yemen. Supporters of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, meanwhile, see the Houthi attack as proof of the group’s “obedience to Iran’s orders”.
‘Invisible Suffering’
Civilians who say they do not support any side in the war have expressed their fear of what will happen next.
Abdulla Yahya, a 25-year-old construction worker in Sanaa, said the suffering of civilians is “invisible during war”.
Abdulla told Al Jazeera that any Houthi-Saudi Arabia military alliance will disrupt the lives of everyday people in Yemen and “survival will be a difficult task”.
“When a major war breaks out, the basic necessities we have today will be unavailable or cheap. Prices will rise, fuel will be disrupted, and job opportunities will decrease. Neither side of the conflict will be aware of our suffering,” said Abdulla.
Yemeni parties have stressed their readiness for war, but Abdulla says they are not.
“I wanted to buy an extra cylinder of cooking gas and get extra food, like flour, rice and cooking oil. But I couldn’t get that. Getting that would cost me about 55,000 Yemeni riyals ($230),” said the father of three.
The escalation is pushing Yemen back into deep conflict, adding to a famine that aid agencies say is worsening.
About 20 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian aid, according to United Nations estimates, and the lack of a political solution to the conflict continues to add to the crisis.
‘For a long time’
Excitement grew among Houthi supporters in Sanaa when the group announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed Ali, a 26-year-old Houthi supporter of Sanaa, said that Sanaa will not be under Riyadh forever, and that the embargo is a reminder to the Saudi leadership: “We can hurt you if you persist in hurting us. You cannot break.”
Ali, a university student, said that Yemen is a sovereign country, and that the Saudi leaders “did not have the right to choose which ship is allowed to enter our ports and which plane is allowed to fly in the air”.
“We feel that Saudi Arabia is weakening us. Let’s give them a dose of their medicine. This dose is long overdue,” Mohammed told Al Jazeera.
Mohammed is not worried about a new war with Saudi Arabia. “We met with America, Israel and, before them, the alliance led by Saudi. Now, the kingdom can try its luck in this new round,” he said.
A complete closure of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the southern entrance to the Red Sea, would hinder Saudi oil exports to Asia, especially given the ongoing difficulties in transiting the region. Hormuz River because of the US war in Iran.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen says it will respond decisively to Houthi threats to its commercial ships. “Such attacks are a violation of international law and fall under maritime crime,” the agency said on Tuesday.
‘Obeying Iran’
Despite the Houthis’ rationale, many Yemeni opponents of the rebels see their recent attacks as evidence of their submission to Iran.
Mohammed Karim, a 30-year-old resident of Hodeidah in western Yemen, explains that the Houthi blockade of Saudi Arabia is “obedience to Iran” which has nothing to do with protecting Yemen’s sovereignty.
“Why did the Houthis not establish security in Saudi Arabia during the last years of war? Why now,” asked Mohammed. “Iran needs to move now, and the Houthis will.”
Last week, the Reuters news agency reported that Iran had asked the Houthis to be ready to close Bab al-Mandeb if the US strikes Iranian missiles, as Washington has threatened.
US for now fighting every night in Iran and hit a lot of civilian infrastructure after the June deal between Washington and Tehran broke down.
Mohammed Karim is angry, saying that the Houthis “want to influence Iran’s chaos in Yemen”.
“It hurts them to see Iran bleed, but they won’t feel pain to see us bleed,” he said. “Ten years of suffering in Yemen has not made them rethink their strategy and find a way to deal with their enemies in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. This is because of their love for Tehran.”
It is believed that the Houthi-declared maritime blockade is a wake-up call to Riyadh. “It can be a strong reason for the kingdom to work hard to topple the Houthis and restore the Yemeni government,” said a resident of Hodeidah.
On Monday, the Minister of Defense in Yemen Taher al-Aqili said that the “patience” of the government recognized by the UN “has run out”, indicating that the government will be ready to end the “Houthi terrorism”.
The Yemeni government has spent the months since it defeated – with the help of Saudi Arabia – the separatist Southern Transitional Council trying to unite the country’s anti-Houthi militia.
Recent fighting has been reported between the Houthis and government forces in Hodeidah, with the Red Sea coast a potential government target.
‘The Fallen Seed’
Saddam Al Huraibi, a Yemeni political expert, believes that Iran does not want to start a real war in Saudi Arabia and, instead, has given the Houthis.
Although the Houthis’ decision to fight the kingdom is “irrational and reckless”, it could be the seed of their downfall, Al Huraibi told Al Jazeera.
If this closure leads to a major conflict, the Houthis “will be defeated by the war and may break,” the expert said.
“Today, the Yemeni government considers that the military method is the only way to deal with the Houthis. I think that Saudi Arabia and other regional and international actors have reached the same point of view, especially after the announcement of the closure of the sea,” he added.
But the issue of war is a concern for many Yemenis, who fear that stopping the war will be difficult if full-scale war resumes.
“It’s like a fire, and no fire can be put out without loss and damage,” said Ammar, Sanaa’s teacher. “We cannot bear loss or pain.”
