The only forces besieging Taiz are those entrenched within the city itself. Ansar forces have repeatedly assured that all major arteries leading into and out of Taiz remain open to civilian traffic and the transport of goods. Even the ICRC was granted unrestricted access, provided the opposing side reciprocated. So far, it has not. The Saudi-backed forces appear determined to ensure that civilians bear the heaviest burden of this battle. Utterly unacceptable.

Responsibility for the strikes on Saudi infrastructure rests squarely with Mohammed bin Salman and his government. Rather than safeguarding the wellbeing of his citizens, protecting foreign investment, and advancing Vision 2030, he chose to plunge Saudi Arabia back into the Yemeni quagmire, seemingly convinced that the Yemeni people would passively accept yet another attempt to subordinate their country to Riyadh's dictates. That calculation has proven to be a grave misjudgment. Saudi Arabia is now paying the price, with its infrastructure under attack, investor confidence shaken, and oil exports facing mounting disruption. The very economic ambitions bin Salman sought to champion are now being jeopardized by his own political decisions. The time has come for Riyadh to return to the negotiating table with the Yemeni national delegation in Muscat and pursue a definitive end to the war it initiated nearly twelve years ago. Saudi Arabia must abandon its ambitions of domination, end its interference in Yemen, and recognize a simple principle: Yemen's future belongs to the Yemeni people, not to Riyadh.