Yemen’s Ansarullah Movement announced recently that it intends to attack some 300 vital and strategic targets inside Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. According to a source at the Yemeni Defense Ministry, a military strike on Saudi Arabia’s central oil pipeline is included for the first time in the list of targets. Now, the question is: What would be the impact of a possible strike by Ansarullah on these targets on the future of the war in Yemen?

Considering the importance of this issue, the website of the Strategic Council Online has discussed the subject with Jafar Ghannadbashi, a West Asian affairs expert.

Q: To what extent does the announcement of Yemen’s Ansarullah on its intention to strike 300 targets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reflect a change in military equations in the Yemeni war?

Ansarullah’s action in identifying 300 vital targets in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and putting these targets in its missile defence list is militarily a highly strategic and decisive development in dealing with the invaders in Yemen, because access to this type of capability does not only mean deterrence against enemy military invasions, but beyond that, it means exposing the economic viability of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, continuation of all military activities of the two countries will be subject to severest damage.

Indeed, that is why military experts have recognized Ansarullah’s capability in identifying sensitive points on the enemy territory and targeting them with missiles and flying drones as the emergence of new military equations in the Red Sea and the Arabian Peninsula, in particular because Ansarallah’s ability has further exposed the Western backers of the Saudi Coalition in the fields of arms sales and purchase of oil and makes them have second thoughts in continuing their support for the war in Yemen. Because, on the one hand, it will expose the ineffectiveness of the weapons sold to Saudi Arabia and the UAE and on the other hand by targeting oil facilities and major oil pipelines it will severely disturb the oil exports.

Q: Ansarullah has announced that after the ‘balance of power’ has been established, it is now the turn of ‘balance of terror’. What does Ansarullah mean by ‘balance of terror’ and what are the plans on the agenda?

By saying the time has arrived for a balance of terror and attempts to create such a balance is to achieve capabilities beyond those necessary to achieve the balance of power, as well as to describe the enemy’s severe vulnerabilities against such capabilities in various military, economic and even political areas in such a way that the authorities and leaders of the aggressive regimes would be put in a state of confusing fear and they should expect Ansarullah’s defensive bullets, bombs and missiles at any time and in any place.

In this regard, Ansarullah officials point to the fragility of the military power of the invaders and the vulnerability of the Saudi and UAE war machine, and explaining their efforts in creating a balance of terror, they say: “We can attack any of the vital facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, so we have the ability to shut down the airports and ports of the two countries.” Ansarullah officials also pointed out in the description of other aspects of the balance of terror that there were no safe points in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “Saudi Arabia and the UAE have more vital facilities that have not yet been targeted. Strikes against these facilities will have a great impact in terms of security and economy, and so they will have to reconsider their war policies against Yemen.”

Q: Why Ansarullah insists on striking oil pipelines given that attack on Saudi central oil pipeline is on the list of 300 targets for the first time?

Ansarullah’s drone strike on Saudi Arabia’s main oil pipeline to the Red Sea sends numerous and very important messages to the enemy, reminding the authorities in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi that if the air strikes against Yemeni residential areas are not stopped and the country’s economic blockade is not lifted, they should be waiting for the destruction of their main oil export facilities and, consequently, their loss of oil revenues, which, in addition to defeating them militarily they will also suffer economic bankruptcy.

Of course, another reason for Ansarullah’s emphasis on hitting oil pipelines is to alert the American and European governments that they will no longer be expected to receive oil supplies from the region if they do not halt arms supplies to Saudi Arabia and the UAE and if they continue to provide political and propaganda support to Saudi Coalition because Ansarullah has the ability to stop any oil exports to the West from the region at any given moment, and therefore they must inevitably put an end to the Yemeni war on their agenda.

Q: What are the scenarios for the future of the war between Yemen and the Saudi Coalition (UAE)?

What is certain is that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have left a dark page and despicable backgrounds of themselves over the past four years and three months, killing the Yemeni people and destroying its economic infrastructure. They have lost the chance of any compromise with Yemen and its elected government. Compared to four years ago, the invaders have lost their military capabilities, and in comparison with Ansarullah’s growing military capabilities, it is not unlikely for the imposed war against Yemen to result in the defeat of Saudi Arabia and Emirates: A defeat the signs of which are already evident.

However, what can happen on the field of action is the forging of a formal process of establishing a ceasefire and initiating talks to end the war, but on the other hand, with the help of Western propaganda machines, to cover up the defeat of the invaders in Yemen and hide it from the people of the region and the world.