Special to WorldTribune.com

The Saudi-led coalition has taken back the key southern port city of Aden in what they said marked a seismic shift in Yemen’s four-month-old civil war.

Losing Aden was seen as a crushing defeat for the Houthi rebels and their Iranian sponsors.

“The situation has been completely turned upside down after the battle for Aden, and it will across the whole south very soon,” a senior commander in the anti-Houthi forces told Reuters.

The commander said another offensive was being planned for the coming days in Yemen’s north, where battles continue to rage between Gulf-backed forces and the Houthis.

Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political scientist in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said the victory in Aden was a huge boost to morale for Gulf Arab states and proved they could hold their own against the Iranian juggernaut.

“If America and Iran are now on good terms … this is a show of things to come — we are ready to defend our own turf,” Abdulla said, referring to the Iranian nuclear deal.

“In this zero-sum game, the balance of power in the region has swung to the Gulf states’ advantage, after this net loss for Iran in Yemen.”

The Saudi-backed forces, bolstered by the Popular Resistance Committees militia, also ended the Houthi blockade of Aden that cut off badly-needed supplies of food and fuel.

Four cabinet ministers arrived in Aden on July 23 “as part of the initiative to revitalize the state and repair infrastructure and renew institutions wrecked by the attacks on the city,” a Yemeni politician said.

Some observers say the Gulf-backed coalition’s momentum may slow should the fight approach the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa. The capital and Yemen’s north are seen as the center of support for the Iran-backed Houthis and are fortified with a large number of its heavily-armed backers.

  Aden, Momentum in Yemen war shifts in Saudis’ favor, Sanaa, WorldTribune.com