The Middle Eastern country, meantime, has also emerged as a flashpoint of terrorism, as it battles Al Qaeda militants and secessionist discontent. The turmoil seems to have no end in sight, and is exploding with each passing day. Escalating border skirmishes between Sana’a and Riyadh have come to haunt regional peace and security in an equation that cries for a bilateral solution. It also calls for neighbouring countries to intervene and broker a truce instantly, and see to it that Yemen’s domestic strife is addressed in a holistic manner.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are at loggerheads while dealing with the resurgent Shia Houthi community in Yemen. Though Houthi rebels had refused Tehran’s mediation offer, Riyadh believes that the Islamic republic is involved in arousing the estranged minority. The tension is even casting a shadow on the Haj congregation in Makkah, where Yemeni and Iranian pilgrims this year are in an agitating mood, compelling Saudi authorities to be on guard.

The Yemen-Saudi row, though not sectarian, has its roots in geopolitical grievances. The dispossessed Shia community in Yemen had suffered religious, economic and social marginalisation for long. It is only after the dislocation of Al Qaeda’s second-tier leadership to this country that the simmering unrest had hit headlines. Thus, it would be prudent of Iran and Saudi Arabia not to look for a sectarian angle in the crisis, and address it as an ethnic and socio-economic discord.

A lasting solution can only be found if Saudi Arabia disassociates itself from backing Yemen’s government with money and weapons of its own. Similarly, it’s time for Tehran to desist from meddling, and stay away from inciting a proxy war. Yemen is neither a Lebanon nor an Iraq. It has its own interpretation of the Shia doctrine and history, and a definite Arab identity. The crisis in southern Saada City is in need of a renewed social contract between the Houthis and other segments of society. Yemen’s neighbours can do well by instantly facilitating a ceasefire between warring factions, both internally and externally, and pouring in with humanitarian assistance for the hundreds and thousands of displaced. This will go a long way in reviving the sense of Arab oneness, and overcoming parochial tendencies. The region cannot withstand another major conflict. It’s time to defuse the tension before major powers cast an eye on it as an excuse for 
another intervention.