Orientations and Activities of Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia in Yemen’s War

Powerful countries always consider themselves the right to intervene in crises to prevent threats against their interests and gain more benefits. The West Asian region has an important place in the equations of great powers such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran and West Asia's relationships with these actors includes a long history of mutual actions and reactions. Yemen has always been the arena of competition between regional and trans-regional powers and countries have tried to increase their influence in Yemen to ensure their survival. Today, Yemen is one of the active centers of the crisis in West Asia and many actors at the internal, regional and trans-regional levels have played a role in its developments in order to obtain good results. Governments have a wide role in the direction of domestic and foreign policy and always portray hypothetical enemies against their territorial integrity and such an attitude will be an important factor in increasing the political and military tension in the relations between governments. The developments in the West Asian region have not been excluded from this logic.Research question: The main question is: what are the similarities and differences between the threat-oriented foreign policy of Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia regarding the Yemen crisis and how it is evaluated.

Research hypothesis: 

The hypothesis is that all three seek to increase their regional influence, reduce threats and balance with a threat-oriented attitude but these common goals have led to the adoption of different policies. While Iran has formed an alliance with Ansarullah and supported the Houthis, Saudi Arabia has opposed this action in order to neutralize Iran's influence and maintain its hegemony by preventing the waves of the Arab revolution from spreading to its borders with the aim of controlling the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb and the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Russia has decided to mediate, be neutral and maintain good relations with the conflicting parties and by being present in the south of Yemen and prevent conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, it is looking for its economic interests in order to maintain its Eurasian mission.

Methodology and theoretical framework: 

Based on the theory of balance of threats, Stephen Walt believes that countries are able to analyze external threats or act on threats. Therefore, countries often try to balance against other countries from which they feel threatened. The threat perception, whether correct or incorrect, provides the factors of fear and concern of the governments and affects the relations of the governments. According to Stephen Walt, the balance of threats can be a better indicator for predicting the formation of alliances and is able to gradually make changes in the foreign policy goals of countries. Therefore, Yemen can be considered an ideal example of the conditions in the balance of threats. This theory is based on the fact that the determining factor of countries' security is the power of each country to detect threats and understand and deal with them.The purpose of this research is to examine the similarities and differences of the threat-oriented foreign policy of Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Yemen crisis, using a descriptive-analytical approach based on the comparative qualitative method and the use of library sources.

In terms of economy, politics and security, the West Asian region has a special place in the equations of countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran and the relationship between West Asia and these actors includes an ancient history of actions and reactions. Today, Yemen is one of the active centers of crisis in West Asia and many actors at different levels play a role in it to achieve their desired goals. Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia have also tried to increase regional power, reduce threats, balance, maintain stability and increase their regional influence and have adopted different policies to deal with threats. Yemen's political developments are the main factor in judging whether Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia's sphere of influence will decrease or increase especially in a situation where Yemen is considered a suitable environment for the escalation of internal and external conflicts between regional players. Based on this, the behavior of these countries can be analyzed with components such as interests and gaining more points, considering different levels of power and ability to act in crises, based on the "balance of threat" theory. After the Arab uprisings, the West Asian countries look at the crises of the region with a geopolitical perspective and conduct their regional policy based on their interests and threats, and play a zero-sum game to strengthen their influence and prevent further influence and intervention of foreigners in the region.

While Iran has made an alliance with Ansarullah and has supported Yemen and maintained its influence in the region, Saudi Arabia has acted to counter Ansarallah and neutralize Iran's influence and help stabilize its hegemony. On the other hand, Russia has tried to mediate and strengthen its role by being neutral and maintain good relations with the conflicting parties with the aim of controlling the Strait of Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea to ensure the preservation of its Eurasian mission by being present in the south of Yemen and increasing its bargaining power.