Abstract

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been competing with each other for regional power since the 1979 Iranian Islamic revolution. This rivalry has increased with the Arab revolts. This study investigates how the Saudi-Iranian rivalry played out during the Yemen conflict in the context of the Arab revolts. Other questions considered: How important is Yemen for Iran and Saudi Arabia? What kind of relationship do Iran and the Houthis have? Which factors induced Saudi Arabia to intervene militarily in Yemen, and which events compelled Saudi Arabia to call a ceasefire there? In the light of these questions, the hypotheses advanced are that involvement of Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Yemen crisis can be explained on the basis of power and security in the framework of neo-realist frameworkapproach; contrary to the conventional wisdom, relations between Iran and the Houthis are of a pragmatic nature rather than stemming from a shared belief system; and the fact that the cost-benefit balance of Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen was progressively disrupted at the expense of benefit led Riyadh to cease fighting in Yemen.