Nournews: Amid a chain of crises imposed on West Asia by US hegemonic policies and the Israeli regime’s occupation, and at a time when calls for the expulsion of the United States from the region and support for Palestine have become serious demands among the peoples of the region, Riyadh is hosting an emergency meeting of the political and strategic defense committee of the Mecca Pact on Monday, with the participation of senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye.
The meeting is being held to review the latest regional developments and ways to counter attacks by Yemen’s Ansarullah. While being presented as an effort to promote regional convergence, the meeting also highlights new dimensions of the region’s growing distance from the US security umbrella. Existing evidence points to an important reality: military action against Yemen would not pave the way for security or help achieve the pact’s objectives. Rather, it would be a miscalculation and amount to playing into the hands of the United States and the Israeli regime — a game in which their continued dominance and occupation depend on the escalation of regional crises.
The Mecca Alliance: From Claims of Convergence to the Test of the Battlefield
The Riyadh meeting comes after considerable time has passed since the initial meeting and claims that dozens of countries would join the pact. Yet, in practice, no tangible or reliable outcome has emerged from this purported alliance.
Although Pakistani and Turkish officials have expressed support for Saudi Arabia on various occasions, an important reality has so far prevented them from taking practical action: the national nature of the actions taken by Ansarullah and the Yemeni army in response to Saudi aggression.
Saudi Arabia has pursued the blockade and attacks against Yemen not in a defensive capacity, but as part of an occupation-oriented approach and in violation of the UN Charter. Yemenis, meanwhile, have stood against such actions under the principle of self-defense.
If the Mecca Alliance is genuinely defensive in nature, it cannot serve as a vehicle for the war in Yemen. This is why the leaders of Türkiye and Pakistan have so far limited themselves largely to political statements rather than taking practical action.
US: An Unreliable Ally and Architect of Proxy Wars
One of the most important factors behind the formation of alliances such as the Mecca Pact is the growing distrust among regional countries toward the US security umbrella.
The Ramadan war showed that the United States not only lacks the ability to ensure the security of its own forces, but that the “Israel First” approach and disregard for the security of Arab countries have also become more apparent than ever, alongside the spending of billions of dollars on US-made weapons.
Naturally, such circumstances are pushing countries toward building indigenous and regional alliances.
Although this trend can be viewed as a positive step toward countering US hegemony and deception, there is a risk that Washington could draw these very alliances into its crisis-generating strategy through proxy wars.
The United States has refrained from directly entering the war because of its experience of defeat against the Yemeni resistance, while at the same time seeking to push the Mecca Alliance toward war with Yemen.
The targeting of Iranian and Iraqi airlines in an effort to disrupt relations between the two countries, as well as attempts to draw Syria into a war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, are part of the same pattern.
Before making any decision, the Mecca Alliance must take these developments into account and avoid being drawn onto a battlefield designed by the United States to escalate the crisis.
A Miscalculation: When an Alliance Plays on the Enemy’s Turf
The moves by the Israeli regime and some regional countries, including the UAE, to create new tensions and push Arab countries toward normalization with the regime are also among the key developments of recent weeks.
Netanyahu’s visit to the UAE and claims that he met with some Arab officials, along with the suspicious Flydubai incident, are viewed as part of the same process.
On the one hand, this process seeks, under the guise of regional security-building, to pressure Saudi Arabia into security normalization with the Israeli regime. On the other, it seeks to put pressure on Oman through claims involving an Omani pilot.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, is seeking to manage the electoral atmosphere ahead of the Knesset elections by securitizing the political environment and showcasing alleged achievements in eliminating adversaries without incurring heavy costs.
Should the Mecca Alliance enter the war against Yemen, reports of the deployment of 30,000 to 40,000 Pakistani troops to Saudi Arabia — if confirmed — would amount to playing directly into this same game.
The Straits: The Real Test of Regional Indigenous Security
Developments from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab al-Mandab offer important security lessons for the Riyadh meeting.
Iran and Yemen’s legal and legitimate rights, as well as their considerable capabilities to safeguard the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, demonstrate that the use of force would not resolve the security challenges facing these waterways. Rather, it could lead to their further closure.
Just as US actions in the Persian Gulf have resulted in the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, a miscalculation by the Mecca Alliance and its entry into the war in Yemen could expose the Bab al-Mandab to even more complicated circumstances.
Therefore, the Riyadh meeting can contribute to genuine security only if it abandons a hostile and warmongering approach, pursues engagement with Yemen, ends military aggression and seeks dialogue with Ansarullah as Yemen’s popular and legitimate government.
Indigenous security has no meaning without genuine independence, the withdrawal of the United States from the region, confronting the Israeli regime, recognizing the Yemeni people’s right to survival and providing practical support for Palestine.
It is impossible to speak of regionalizing security while simultaneously accepting billions of dollars in US arms sales, the deployment of Patriot systems in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the obstruction by some Arab countries of the Iran-Oman initiative concerning the situation surrounding the attacks and the role of the Strait of Hormuz, and baseless allegations against Iran.
The withdrawal of the United States from the region and confronting the Israeli regime are at the heart of regionalizing security, and Iran and Yemen are also prepared to support and strengthen this process.
The Riyadh meeting could, instead of adopting a blueprint for war against the Islamic country of Yemen, take a step toward genuine security, the expulsion of the United States from the region and confronting the Israeli regime.
Otherwise, it could turn from a security meeting into little more than a photo opportunity — or even a costly miscalculation that draws the region into the war in Yemen.
The future of the region will be shaped by resistance, and the era of US unilateralism and achieving objectives by playing on Washington’s turf has come to an end.
