SA'ADA CONFLICT: A PROXY WAR OF WORDS BETWEEN

S E C R E T SANAA 001628 SIPDIS NOFORN FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED NOFORN CAPTION) E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2019 TAGS: MOPS PINS KPAO YM SUBJECT: SA'ADA CONFLICT: A PROXY WAR OF WORDS BETWEEN IRAN, SAUDI ARABIA Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). SUMMARY ¶1. (C) While Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels exchange fire in Sa'ada, a vociferous exchange of accusations and counter-accusations over alleged foreign interference in the conflict is taking place in the Yemeni and regional media. Iranian official media is giving the conflict unprecedented coverage, alleging Saudi military intervention in Sa'ada and echoing Houthi statements with little qualification. Yemeni official news outlets have condemned the Iranian coverage and accused Iran of directly supporting the Houthis. Saudi news outlets have largely echoed the ROYG's talking points on Sa'ada, implying Iranian involvement and characterizing the Houthis as brutal terrorists. Though there remains no hard evidence of direct foreign involvement in Sa'ada, the war of words in the press shows how the Sa'ada conflict is becoming a rhetorical proxy war between two antagonistic regional powers. END SUMMARY. IRANIAN STATE MEDIA DROPS A BOMB ¶2. (U) The sixth war in Sa'ada has scored a much higher profile in Iranian official media than its predecessors. Official Iranian media outlets al-Alam TV, Press TV, and Radio Tehran are broadcasting statements issued by Houthi figures with little or no qualification. Radio Tehran reported an August 15 telephone call between President Saleh and King Abdullah in which the Saudi monarch reportedly promised to "cover the cost of the offensive, to provide weapons and ammunition and to put an end to the Houthi movement no matter the cost." On August 21, al-Alam reported the existence of a joint Saudi-Yemeni operations center to consult on military strategy in Sa'ada. On August 28, Press TV picked up a Houthi statement alleging that "at least two Saudi warplanes have bombed (Houthi) positions" near the Saudi border. Press TV on August 29 described the conflict as an "offensive on Shi'as" and reported claims that "army warplanes have been targeting civilian neighborhoods and camps of displaced people." On August 29, the same day that regional media traced Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Naif's suicide attacker back to Mareb, Press TV quoted Yahya al-Houthi saying, "Yemen is now a main partner in carrying out terrorist plots sponsored by Saudi Arabia." BEWARE THE TRUMPETS OF PERSIA ¶3. (U) This Iranian media coverage has not gone unnoticed in Yemen. High-level officials and state-controlled media have been quick to denounce Iranian coverage and deny Saudi involvement. Information Minister Hassan al-Lawzi told a press conference on August 18, "What is discussed and the characterizations on Al-Alam ... and Radio Tehran makes it clear who is supporting and financing the Houthis." Al-Motamar, the media outlet of the ruling General People's Congress (GPC),decried on August 17 "the treachery of the Persian media ... (which) reveals the ugly face of the trumpets of sabotage outside Yemen's borders, imposing upon the Yemeni media the patriotic duty of confronting the Iranian misinformation machine and its support for subversive elements in Sa'ada." An August 29 editorial in the MoD mouthpiece 26 September decried "agent-journalists who fabricate news." MoD officials said that Iranian claims of Saudi-Yemeni cooperation in the Sa'ada offensive lead to a "loss of credibility and beg the question of the goals being pursued from behind (these claims)." On August 31, Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi told GPC-affiliated newspaper al-Methaq, "Iran's coverage does not serve the interests of Yemen and Iran's bilateral relations. We know there is freedom of the press, but it should be the freedom to report the facts and not to incite or show bias for one side against the other." ¶4. (S/NF) Beyond simply condemning the Iranian coverage, Yemeni official media has implied direct Iranian military support for the Houthis. Al-Motamar reported on August 20 that government forces had discovered "six stores of weapons belonging to the Houthis, among them Iranian-made weapons ... including light-machine guns, mortars, and short-range missiles." However, no images of these stores of weapons were provided, and official sources claimed to have destroyed them. In an August 25 conversation with EmbOffs, MoD Chief of Staff Major-General Ahmed Al-Ashwal confirmed that ROYG forces had seized Iranian-made weapons, but was unwilling or unable to provide specifics about the number or types of weapons. (Comment: Given that the ROYG has long sought to prove that Iran is materially supporting the Houthis, their inability or unwillingness to provide hard evidence of these Iranian arms caches makes the press reports extremely suspect. End Comment.) Al-Methaq quoted FM Qirbi on August 31 disavowing the stories of Iranian-made weapons, saying, "This information (about Iranian weapons) didn't come from official sources. When this information is confirmed by official sources, we will deal with it." SAUDI MEDIA IN ROYG'S CORNER ¶5. (U) Coverage of the Sa'ada conflict in Saudi-affiliated media has largely echoed the Yemeni official media. Saudi news outlets have condemned Iran's "biased" coverage of the conflict, reported the alleged seizures of Iranian-made weapons, and accused Iran of directly supporting the Houthis. In an August 20 al-Hayat editorial reprinted in several Saudi-affiliated news outlets, prominent Saudi JOURNALIST Dawood al-Shuryan wrote that "there is no doubt that what is happening in Yemen is an Iranian plot to destabilize Arab states," likening the Sa'ada conflict to "Iranian meddling" in Lebanon, Bahrain, and other Arab countries. A Saudi Shura Council member stated on al-Jazeera on September 1 that Iran is meddling in Sa'ada and supporting the Houthis. YEMEN AN ARENA FOR REGIONAL POWER PLAY ¶6. (U) Al-Masdar reported on August 23 that Yemeni political analysts view the accusations and counter-accusations as "evidence of the transformation of Yemen into a new arena for the confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the region." They described Iran's alleged support for the Houthis as an effort to develop "a foothold on the Saudi border and the Red Sea." Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia "seeks to strongly defend its influence in the region," and "doesn't want to be stuck between the pincers of Iranian influence on its northern border in Iraq and its southern border with Yemen." On August 31, government-affiliated website Nashwan News published an Arabic translation of an August 28 Foreign Policy article by Robert Haddick describing the Sa'ada conflict as "the newest front in a broadening proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia." On August 31, Sana'a University lecturer Adel al-Sharjabi implied on al-Jazeera TV that the ROYG and the Houthis are fighting each other as proxy agents of unnamed external powers. COMMENT ¶7. (C) There is still no reliable evidence of direct foreign involvement in the conflict in Sa'ada. However, the escalating war of words in the media over suspected Iranian and Saudi involvement has added a regional dimension to a conflict already entangled in a knot of domestic tribal and political grievances. With media coverage superimposing the Saudi-Iranian rivalry onto the conflict, peace in Sa'ada is becoming ever more elusive. END COMMENT. SECHE