Houthi strikes mark the end of Saudi Arabia's Yemen 'containment strategy'

Saudi Arabia’s bid to “contain” the Houthis in Yemen while doubling down on economic growth at home is collapsing, posing one of the most serious tests for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since he rose to power, according to analysts and diplomats. A decade ago, the crown prince led the kingdom into a war aimed at ousting the Houthis from power. The conflict turned into a quagmire for Saudi Arabia, sapping its resources and sparking widespread backlash due to its devastating bombing campaign. In the end, Saudi Arabia cut its losses and maintained an uneasy truce with the Houthis since 2022. “This is the collapse of Saudi Arabia’s containment strategy,” Rob Geist Pinfold, an international security expert at King's College London, told Middle East Eye. “The way Saudi Arabia approached the Houthis in the last few years was not dissimilar to how Israel treated Hamas in Gaza before 7 October [2023]. The Saudis felt they had the Houthis where they needed them. They weren’t at the stage to reach a political solution, but they felt they had disincentivised them from escalating again.” Read more: Houthi strikes mark the end of Saudi Arabia's Yemen 'containment strategy' This handout image released by the Iran-backed Houthi forces on 7 September 2026 purportedly shows a ballistic missile strike on trucks carrying military equipment from Saudi Arabia to the al-Wadiah military camp in Yemen’s Hadhramaut province (Ansarullah Media Centre/AFP)