New Chapter to Deter Aggression: ‘Operation Balance of Deterrence 4’ Is Just the Beginning

By Mohammad Al-Hadheri – Al-Masirah Network

In the Operation Balance of Deterrence 4, the Yemeni Armed Forces have targeted the symbol of the Saudi regime’s strength and the most fortified ‘Ministry of Defense and Intelligence Headquarters’, in its capital, Riyadh, after the previous operations were limited to oil and economic targets east and west of the Kingdom.

Ten months ago, Operation Balance of Deterrence 1 was carried out on the 17th of August 2019. The Air Force of the Yemeni Army and the Popular Committees targeted with ten drones an Aramco-affiliated field and refinery in eastern Saudi Arabia near the UAE borders, which includes the largest strategic stockpile in the country and can hold more than one billion barrels.

On the 14th of September 2019, the famous Operation Balance of Deterrence 2 targeted Aramco's refineries in Abqaiq and Khurais, with ten drones resulting in a loss of half of Saudi oil production in one go. Days after the 2nd operation, and from the position of strength, Yemeni President Mahdi Al-Mashat presented the peace initiative to end all attacks on Saudi Arabia if the kingdom and its allies agree to end their attacks on Yemen, to which it has not responded yet.

Five months later, unlike the previous two operations that targeted eastern Saudi Arabia, the Operation Balance of Deterrence 3, in February 2020, targeted the far west of Saudi Arabia, the Yanbu industrial and oil region which is more than 1,000 kilometers from the nearest Yemeni border point. It was carried out by 12 Sammad-3 drones, two Quds-1 missiles, and a Zulfiqar long-range ballistic missile, that was first exposed during the operation.

As Saudi Arabia and its allies continue their aggression and siege on Yemen, Spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced on Tuesday, June 23, 2020, the implementation of the Operation Balance of Deterrence 4, the largest offensive against the capital of the Saudi enemy, with a barrage of ballistic, winged missiles and drones deep in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the Riyadh regime’s latest escalation in it bloody military campaign against the country.

Unlike the previous three operations, the 4th operation this time, with Quds and Zulfikar missiles and Sammad-3 drones, has struck sites, more fortified and far-flung military headquarters in its geographical range, targeting the Saudi Ministry of Defense, the Intelligence Headquarters and the Salman Air Base in Riyadh, which is filled with American experts and soldiers, in addition to targeting military sites in Najran and Jizan.

The head of Yemen’s National Delegation Mohamed Abdulsalam warned the coalition of the US-Saudi aggression to deal seriously with the Operation Balance of Deterrence 4, which indicates even more intense military operations.

It appears that the Yemeni Army has begun to implement its previous threats. Brigadier General Saree revealed the Armed Forces’ strategy to strike the depth of the aggression countries if they did not comply with the peace initiative launched by President Al-Mashat. He stressed that this strategy includes "expanding the objectives of our forces to include vital and sensitive sites in the depth of the aggression countries, where these goals are divided into three levels according to their importance."

"The aggression’s continuation to target our people and our country means the continuation of our forces in a legitimate and appropriate response, with painful attacks on what the leadership chooses from the three levels of the bank of targets", he added. He explained that "the attack ability of the running Air Force has multiplied by 400% from what it was in the previous year."

Observers believe that the Operation Balance of Deterrence 4 imposes a new equation stating that there is no safe place throughout the Saudi geography, as Yemen has the ability to strike many and varied targets even those most fortified ones and that are subject to direct American protection.

Observers also believe that the following attacks, which were promised by the [Ansarullah] leader of the revolution, Sayyed Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, will strongly continue if the aggression did not respond to the peace initiative and to see a just and comprehensive solution in Yemen.