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  "authors": [
    "Lina Khatib"
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    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
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Source: Getty

In The Media
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

A Hidden Motive Behind Saudi Intervention in Yemen

Saudi Arabia is using the war against the Houthis to consolidate Saudi influence and control over Yemen, including the Port of Aden.

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By Lina Khatib
Published on Mar 29, 2015
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The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

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Source: KPFK Background Briefing with Ian Masters

“Saudi Arabia is finally being decisive about Yemen and using this war against the Houthis to consolidate Saudi influence and control over Yemen, including the Port of Aden,” said Carnegie’s Lina Khatib during an interview with KPFK’s Background Briefing with Ian Masters.

Khatib also spoke about a possible hidden motive behind Saudi intervention in Yemen that might result in a military occupation of the south of the country to secure the port of Aden and its oil terminals. Saudi oil could then be piped directly to Asian customers from terminals on the Indian Ocean, thus bypassing the Gulf and the Iranian-dominated Straights of Hormuz.

This interview was originally broadcast by KPFK Background Briefing with Ian Masters.

About the Author

Lina Khatib

Former Director, Middle East Center

Khatib was director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Previously, she was the co-founding head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.

    Recent Work

  • In The Media
    Syria's Last Best Hope: The Southern Front

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Lina Khatib
Former Director, Middle East Center
Political ReformSecurityForeign PolicyIranGulfSaudi ArabiaYemenMiddle East

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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