国际英语新闻:Saudi Arabia Launches Airstrikes in Yemen

“The rational course of action is for Saudi Arabia and other leading Sunni countries to halt Iranian influence around the world,” he said. “Not because of the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam, but because of competing national interests and the geopolitical stakes.”

Earlier, some analysts predicted that it was not likely that Saudi Arabia would do much more than shore up its border.

“Although the Saudis have used an increasingly more dire - perhaps even bellicose - tone in their public statements about the violence in Yemen and what must be done to stop it, a military intervention would be incredibly risky,” said Fahad Nazer, a former political analyst at the Saudi Embassy in Washington.

Nazer said Sauda Arabia would need the support of other countries in the region. It was unclear if that happened Wednesday.

Other countries in the region may not have much appetite to go to war as the crisis does not impact them as strongly as it does the Saudi Kingdom, Nazer said.

“It is also important to note that the Saudis and other GCC states are already taking part in the US-led strikes against ISIS strongholds in Syria,” Nazer said. “Any additional military commitments could stretch their military forces thin.”

Perhaps most importantly, the Saudis face more than one adversary in Yemen, which is home to al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP] and, if their claims are true, the so-called Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for attacks on two mosques in the capital Sana’a a week ago.

With the air strikes, Saudi Arabia could find itself in a bind, analysts say.

“They would find it difficult to bomb Houthi rebels and let AQAP roam wild in the south,” Nazer said. “Targeting the Houthis and sparing AQAP would enhance the latter's position on the ground. Some Western and Middle East critics of Saudi foreign policy would likely frame such an attack as tacit support of AQAP.”

In the long term, Saudi Arabia is reported to be planning to build new military facilities, including a naval base at the Red Sea port of Jazan.