Mereja.Forum

[Fiyameta]

Purple carpet signifies the honor, power and influence of a dignitary guest.

[Zmeselo]

If it helps you sleep better at night, then so be it.

Herman Cohen with Meles Zenawi and Ascari (Ashiker Isaias) gave a still birth, born dead Eritrea province. The U.S. cannot breath life into a dead province at this time.

[Zmeselo]

With the UAE meddling in Yemen and rising Red Sea tensions, a Saudi-led military base in Assab could become operational soon.

While the Saudis are napping, UAE-backed forces, including the STC and Tariq Saleh’s units, now reportedly control large stretches of Yemen’s coastline along the Red Sea, Bab al Mandab, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea. Their grip on key ports gives the UAE increasing influence over Red Sea trade routes and access to Yemen’s limited oil infrastructure, which adds pressure on Saudi Arabia to reassert its influence in the south and the Red Sea overall.

These shifting dynamics are being watched closely by the Houthis, who already control most of northern Yemen and its population centers. Any further loss of economic or territorial leverage is likely to raise tensions inside the country.

At the same time, the UAE is also pursuing another wider Red Sea strategy through its direct military and financial backing of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces in the ongoing war and its growing partnership with Ethiopia, which many view as a proxy effort to secure access to the Red Sea through Eritrea’s port of Assab.

The possibility of an Ethiopia-Eritrea confrontation, combined with Abu Dhabi’s rising influence, has pushed Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Eritrea, along with Sudan, Djibouti, and Somalia, to raise their guard as they see the UAE’s moves as a direct threat to their sovereignty, own national interests and the regional balance.

With competition between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh growing, it is not surprising that Red Sea states like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, and Eritrea are looking for ways to coordinate and respond to these changes.

In this environment, the Saudi-led Red Sea Security Alliance of eight littoral states could move to reactivate the Assab military and naval base, originally developed by the UAE, along with Saudi facilities in Djibouti. Both sites would offer strategic access to the Bab al Mandab corridor.

A short-term Eritrea-Saudi/Egypt arrangement to use the Assab base would be a logical step if regional tensions continue to rise.

[Fiyameta]