Prime Minister Andy Burham says the fighter jets are only there for “defensive purposes” while the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is facing monumental defeats against the Ansur Allah
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Wednesday October 21, 2026
Geostrategic Analysis
As the Yemeni resistance movement, the Ansur Allah, carries on its struggle against the western imperialist-backed Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the Labor government in London has sent fighter jets to aid Riyadh.
Both the KSA and the United Kingdom are monarchies while Britain has an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords, their interests converge as it relates to maintaining imperialist hegemony in West Asia.
Although the British Labor party claims that it represents working people in the country, it does not wish to see the weakening of Saudi Arabia which plays a role in protecting both UK and United States military outposts in the region. Moreover, the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf dominated Arab monarchies are essential to the world capitalist system.
The unprovoked war waged by the State of Israel and the US against the Islamic Republic of Iran has been an abysmal failure. Passage through the Strait of Hormuz has been restricted by Tehran while the also important Bab el-Mandeb Strait could be completely taken over by the resistance forces in Yemen.
Bab el-Mandeb is an important strait; a regional bottleneck located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. The strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Cargo shipping vessels going through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have declined precipitously over the last several months. Tracking data for the strategic waterway indicates that there has been a decline of approximately 60% in vessels going through the strait.
The Kpler data tracking service monitors the number of vessels engaged in international trade. They have clearly documented a drop in the level of shipping taking place in both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb waterway.
If the western imperialist states cannot reverse the losses of the KSA in the region, it will further weaken the economies of Europe, the UK and others around the world. Prices have skyrocketed for energy services and products. Undoubtedly the ongoing war over the control of the Yemen coast can only worsen the current situation.
One media source reporting on the war between the Yemen resistance and the KSA, says of the crisis:
“The renewed war in Yemen has moved beyond the conventional boundaries of an internal conflict. As of October 2026, the military struggle surrounding Taiz, Mocha and Bab al-Mandab is directly connected to Saudi Arabia’s territorial security, the political future of southern Yemen, Iran’s regional influence and Europe’s ability to preserve commercial access between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. The United Nations confirmed on 9 October that Yemen had returned to full-scale war, with fighting spreading across multiple fronts and strikes affecting civilian and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.” (https://debuglies.com/2026/
During 2016, the so-called Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) launched a war against the resistance forces in Yemen. This GCC coalition encompassed the KSA and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the principal leaders.
Nonetheless, the war was clearly backed by the US and the UK and therefore was waged based upon their strategic interests. It was the Pentagon, US intelligence agencies and Britain which supplied the warplanes, ordinance, targeting mechanism and bombing coordinates over a period of six years.
The war against Yemen between 2016 and 2022 created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. A cholera outbreak sickened 2.5 million people resulting in 4,500 deaths. The GCC conducted targeted bombing operations against civilian populations as well as national infrastructure.
Although there was a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022, the war was never officially concluded. The resumption of fighting is clearly linked with the US and Israeli war against Iran.
In its present phase, the attempts by the KSA to crush the Yemeni resistance forces has taken on a much broader character. The problems of inflation associated with the policies of the Trump administration makes the world economy far more susceptible to a downturn than what existed in 2016.
This same report quoted above goes on to note that:
“The central strategic assessment is that the conflict now constitutes an interconnected land, maritime and economic security crisis, rather than an isolated military campaign. Control of Yemen’s coastline, the fragmentation of anti-Houthi armed formations, the vulnerability of Saudi infrastructure and the deployment of external military assistance create mutually reinforcing escalation risks. For Europe, the consequences extend well beyond naval security. They encompass the Suez Canal commercial corridor, industrial supply chains, maritime insurance, container shipping, energy transportation, defense expenditure and relations with Gulf partners. European exposure is particularly consequential for Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, although their vulnerabilities and military responsibilities differ significantly.”
Saudis Being Defeated by Yemeni Armed Forces
During the period between 2016 -2022, the GCC, despite its solid backing by the leading imperialist states, failed to defeat the Ansur Allah. Since late 2023 when the Al Aqsa Flood erupted in Gaza, Yemen has become an even more formidable element within the region-wide Axis of Resistance.
After a brief period of bombing by the Trump administration against Yemen during 2025, a truce was brokered by neighboring Oman. However, the pause in the Pentagon bombing did not shift the overall strategic balance of forces in West Asia.
The failure of the White House and Tel Aviv to destabilize and overthrow the Iranian government has strengthened the resistance forces. Over the last several weeks the advances of the Ansur Allah are further weakening the US and Britain in their long-term influence in the West Asia region.
On October 21, al-Mayadeen news agency emphasized in a report on the current situation:
“The Yemeni Armed Forces struck a Saudi base in Aden with a ballistic missile, Yemen’s Armed Forces Spokesperson Brigadier General Yehya Saree announced. In a statement on Wednesday, Saree said the YAF struck a Saudi operations room at Badr Camp in Aden, reporting a direct hit. In a subsequent statement, Saree announced an operation targeting military equipment transported by Saudi Arabia aboard military cargo planes to Al-Rayyan Airport in Mukalla, Yemen.” (https://english.almayadeen.
Trump and his allies who dominate the House of Representatives and the Senate appear to be unwilling to place troops on the ground in Iran and Yemen. The long-range bombing campaigns and efforts to impose a blockade on Iran have proven ineffective as Iran has outmaneuvered Washington.
Britain is suffering from similar social problems which exist in the US. There is high unemployment, impoverishment among the working class and the nationally oppressed.
If the administration in Washington fails to pull back and downsize its forces in West Asia, the workers and oppressed people of the US and Europe will continue to suffer. Demonstrations, strikes and rebellions in numerous European states are a clear indication of the future prospects for unrest throughout the capitalist countries.
Iran Prepares for All-Out War
Leading up to the midterm elections in the US, the Trump White House has renewed its threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The president has said that he will engage in another round of strikes after the November 3 elections.
Nonetheless, the Iranian government stated on October 21 that it is preparing for any eventuality related to the aggression threatened by Washington. The strategic victories of the Islamic Republic and its allies since February 28 cannot be denied by any objective observers.
An article published by Press TV on October 21 cites an Iranian official saying the government is ready for a joint attack from Tel Aviv and Washington. With this posture coupled by the offensive thrust of the Ansur Allah in Yemen along the coast of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could deepen the already existing economic and political crisis in the imperialist states.
According to Press TV:
“The official further stated that from Iran’s perspective, America will not carry out an attack without the Israeli regime, and the regime will not carry out an attack without America. The official characterized the notion of either regime acting independently in a war against Iran as resembling ‘a bitter joke,’ emphasizing the intertwined nature of the American and Israeli war machinery. The official further stated that the explicit threats of American officials and the Zionist regime to attack Iran have provided the legal and moral license for Iran to take necessary defensive measures. These remarks come amid heightened tensions in the region and repeated warmongering by American officials and the Zionist regime to carry out fresh aggression against Iran after the two imposed wars in June last year and February this year. Both the United States and the Israeli regime are heading into elections in the coming weeks.” (https://www.presstv.co.uk/
Although Britain declined to join with Tel Aviv and Washington in the bombing of Iran, the deployment of RAF fighter jets to Saudi Arabia explicitly reveals its imperialist aims right alongside the US. However, these efforts by Washington and London will only damage the status and social conditions of the majority of those living in these countries.
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Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION PROJECT–
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