On Wednesday, Press TV reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said military means cannot resolve the crisis between the Yemeni government and Houthi fighters.

Speaking at a joint news conference with the visiting Mosotho foreign minister, Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa, Mottaki said Iran is in favor of peace and stability in Yemen. He added that Tehran is ready to work with regional states to resolve the crisis in Yemen.

However, today the United Arab Emirates-based paper The National reported that Arab leaders view Mottaki’s words as another indication of Iran’s expansionist foreign policy aims in the region.

Mottaki’s comments, in fact, came as Saudi Arabia let it be known that its navy has begun patrolling Yemen’s Red Sea north-west coast with orders to search ships suspected of ferrying arms to the Yemeni rebels.

“If it’s true, it’s a very large escalation and if the Saudis are playing it smart, they are going to try and … find a smoking gun” to prove that Iran is supplying the rebels with arms, said Theodore Karasik, director of research and development at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (Inegma) in Dubai.

“We have a war of rhetoric and a lot of people with vested interest want to make this into a proxy fight,” added Mr Karasik, noting that the Iranians are “being very aggressive” in competing with Saudi Arabia to be the dominant regional power.

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