Strained Iranian-Saudi relations over events in Yemen threaten to embroil the region in another wave of sectarian tension, writes Omayma Abdel-Latif One of the most serious fallouts of Saudi Arabia's military operations against Al-Houthi rebels is how sectarian fissures between Sunni and Shia are increasingly defining the conflict. The conflict on Yemeni-Saudi borders where Saudi military operations began 3 November is being perceived as a war between the Sunnis and Shias. The operations against Al-Houthi rebels (who are Zaidis, a branch of Shiism closest to Sunni doctrine) are marked by a complex interplay between regional and domestic politics. The Saudi military involvement is viewed as motivated by Saudi Arabia's need to assert itself as a regional power and contain Iran's growing influence, and to defend its domestic legitimacy. Using the Shia-Sunni split to achieve such goals, however, is having a boomerang effect inside the kingdom itself. One informed scholar of Saudi affairs spoke about heightened discontent and anger among young Saudi Shia in the Eastern Provinces who increasingly perceive the conflict to the south to be against Shia. "They express their frustration and solidarity on blogs," said London-based scholar Mai Yamani. Shia Muslims constitute 15-20 per cent of the population in Saudi Arabia and form a majority in the oil-rich Eastern Provinces. One reason why the conflict has been seen through the lens of sectarianism, explained Yamani, is because the Saudis have been stoking sectarian tension as a way to drain popular support for Al-Houthis and to defend their domestic and regional legitimacy in the face of Iran. "In their media and public debates, Saudis portray the war as one being initiated by Iran through its stooges -- ie the Al-Houthis. They say we are only fighting Iranian influence in Yemen." For the Shia, sectarianism is being used to divert attention from the more important issues of poverty, underdevelopment and the economic and political marginalisation suffered by northern Yemen and southwest Saudi Arabia. The Saudi religious establishment bestowed its blessing on the military operations underway when it issued a statement in which it considered "defending our borders on the frontline against the infiltrators is jihad ". Al-Qaeda also entered the scene when it issued a statement reviling the Al-Houthis. Al-Qaeda usually reviles Shia as apostates. The impact of the Saudi military operations is extending to reach other Shia populations in Gulf countries. There is growing concern among large segments that if they were to express any solidarity with the Al-Houthis, or even call for an end to the fighting, they would be perceived as fifth columns, their loyalty to the state questioned. Such was the case in Bahrain where 75 per cent of the population are Shia. When members of the Islamist Al-Wifaq Al-Watani Al-Islami (the Association of Islamist National Accord), whose constituency are majority Shia, refused to sign a statement in solidarity with Saudi Arabia they were accused by Salafist members of parliament of sympathising with Al-Houthis because they are Shia. The issue has become part of domestic political rivalry between two camps in Bahrain and serves as a reminder of the sharp sectarian divide in the country. In Beirut, in Tariq Jdeeda, a poor Sunni dominated neighbourhood, the word Al-Houthi is being used as a derogatory term. Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah called for rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Nasrallah said there is a tendency today to put a gloss of sectarianism on every conflict in the region, and that this was meant to break up Muslim nations into small entities. This, he said serves Israel. "Every conflict in our region is being interpreted only from the perspective of the Sunni-Shia divide," he said in his latest speeches commemorating the Day of the Martyr. "It is being said that Turkey, the Sunni state, is engaging in the Middle East to take the role of Iran, the Shia state." Nasrallah called on Iran to make a rapprochement towards Saudi Arabia and vice versa. "There should be an initiative from any Arab or Muslim nation to bring those two big and important nations together to dialogue in order to put out the sectarian fire." Some observers argue that the sectarian tension has been aggravated by Iranian intervention in the conflict. Iranian officials' repeated condemnation of Saudi military operations against Al-Houthis only confirmed fears that the conflict was motivated by sectarian reasons, some say. Iranian officials warned Yemen's neighbours should "seriously hold back from intervening in Yemen's internal affairs". "Those who pour oil on fire must know that they will not be spared from the smoke that billows," Iran's foreign minister said. On Sunday, Ali Larijani, speaker of the Iranian parliament, criticised the Saudi government for sending forces to Yemen and killing fellow Muslims. "The intervention of the Saudi government in Yemen and repeated bombardment of unprotected Yemeni Muslims by Tornado and F-15 fighters is astounding. How has his Excellency [Saudi King Abdullah], the servant of the two honourable shrines, allowed Muslims' blood to be spilt in Yemen by means of [Saudi] military devices? The news proves that the US government has been the accomplice and assistant in such suppressive measures," Larijani said. Iran has been repeatedly accused by both Yemeni and Saudi officials of supporting the Al-Houthis. Although the exact nature of the Iranian role in the conflict is unknown, the stakes are high for Iran as well. Any Iranian intervention, observers argued, real or imagined, would bring with it a ring of sectarianism that is not in the interest of any country in the region. Iranian officials defend their stand. They speak against the conflict in their capacity as a Muslim nation and not out of sectarian motivations, they say. While the Sunni-Shia divide remains largely the result of orchestration, if autocratic regimes and religious establishments continue to fall back on sectarian interpretations in foreign and domestic relations such a supposed rift may well acquire a life of its own. Signs of this have already been manifest in Lebanon, Iraq and now Yemen.
