Arab Media: Riyadh’s Domestic Awe Shattered by Failure in Yemen War
Arab media outlets underlined Riyadh's failure in the devastating war against Yemen, and said that the Saudi people are now aware of their government's weakness.
“The recent attack against Aramco was highly painful and revealed the military weakness and shattered the awe of the Saudi government before the country’s public opinion and therefore, Riyadh has been forced to save itself and immediately devise a strategy to get out of the Yemen war,” Omar Ayasareh, a political analyst, told the Arabic-language Khalij Online news website on Saturday.
He also noted that the Americans are also after closing the Yemen case and have, hence, agreed that Ansarallah should also have a share in the political process in the country.
“Saudi Arabia has also shown positive reaction to the Americans’ initiative,” Ayasareh said.
Reports said last Wednesday that a number of Saudi royal family members had expressed frustration over Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS)’s ability to lead the kingdom following a devastating attack by the Yemeni forces on the Riyadh-owned oil sites.
According to a senior foreign diplomat and five sources close to the ruling family, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, the raids by Yemen had sparked anger among several prominent members of the Al Saud family and also some in elite circles who maintain the young crown prince has adopted an exaggeratedly aggressive foreign policy towards Iran, Reuters reported.
“There is a lot of resentment” about MbS’ leadership, said one of the sources, adding, “How were they not able to detect the attack?”
The source also stated that some people in elite circles have “no confidence” in the crown prince, an assertion echoed by the four other sources and the senior diplomat.
Several Yemeni drones targeted Aramco oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais in mid-September. The attacks shut down about 50 percent of the kingdom’s crude and gas production, and cut the state oil giant’s crude oil supply by around 5.7 million barrels per day. A return to normal production could take months, not weeks, according to reports.
