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Saagar Enjeti argues that attacks are undermining Saudi Arabia’s strategy of buying global prestige through sports, tourism, and high-profile events. Krystal Ball says the damage threatens MBS’s political position and the kingdom’s dependence on migrant workers and luxury spending.
Rickards traces the petrodollar to a US bargain with Saudi Arabia: price oil in dollars, with a threat to seize the eastern oil provinces if Saudi leaders refused. He says the arrangement remains in force, though Dixon argues that China is now the main buyer of Gulf energy and that Gulf investment has shifted toward US equities.
After Saudi strikes on oil depots in Hodeidah and Sana’a, Ansar Allah struck Saudi Aramco’s headquarters; Saudi Arabia reported minor damage, while Hussein al-Bukhari described heavy damage. The attacks disrupted a Saudi oil conference, and Mohammed bin Salman reportedly canceled air-raid sirens.
Ryan Grim argued that Saudi Arabia cannot defeat Ansar Allah after more than a decade of war and that U.S. intervention risks renewed disruption of Red Sea shipping. He said Trump may avoid helping Mohammed bin Salman, whose weakening position could make him more dangerous and expose U.S. financial and political ties to the Saudi leadership.
Hussein al-Bukhari blamed Saudi airstrikes and the blockade for Yemen’s civilian deaths and infrastructure damage. He claimed Saudi Arabia had conducted 300,000 airstrikes, directly killed 20,000 civilians, and caused more than 400,000 deaths through preventable disease and deprivation.
Hussein al-Bukhari said Yemen considers Najran, Jizan, and Asir historically Yemeni territory under the 1934 Ta’if Agreement, and he claimed Saudi Arabia violated that agreement. He said the 2022 truce was broken when Saudi Arabia targeted Sana’a airport, while border communities continued to face artillery and cluster-bomb attacks.
Hussein al-Bukhari said Ansar Allah stopped targeting Israeli ships after Hamas accepted a ceasefire and requested restraint, and claimed no Israeli ships were passing through the Red Sea while Eilat port remained closed. He also alleged, without evidence in the interview, that Saudi Arabia or its allies might stage an attack on Mecca to provoke sectarian conflict.
Escalating regional conflict has derailed Saudi Arabia's trillions in planned mega-projects, including Neom and a Riyadh skyscraper, threatening a government backed by a 350 billion dollar annual budget.
Saagar Enjeti cites analyst Trita Parsi to explain that Iran offered to mediate between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. Tehran wants to avoid a broader regional conflagration so it can concentrate its military pressure entirely on enforcing a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
Prolonged conflict threatens Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy. Greg Karlstrom observes that top Saudi leaders privately favor negotiations with Houthi rebels over extended warfare, despite aggressive public rhetoric from state-backed commentators.
Saudi Arabia invoked mutual defense pacts with Turkey and Pakistan to bolster domestic security. Pakistan sent troops restricted strictly to Saudi defense, while Donald Trump repeatedly declined Saudi requests for direct American strikes inside Yemen.
Professor Robert Pape warns that striking Iranian oil refineries will trigger retaliation against Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq facility. Abqaiq processes 7 million barrels per day, representing over 5% of global energy consumption, and its destruction could push US treasury yields past 6%.