The ongoing war between the Yemeni army and rebels in the country’s north is causing ripples throughout the region, stirring local political conflicts and increasing tensions between Sunnis and Shi’ites.

The most recent flare up came Sunday when Egypt’s largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, called on Saudi King Abdallah to stop fighting on the Saudi-Yemeni border and halt the killing of innocent people.

While maintaining Saudi Arabia’s right to protect its borders, the head of the movement, Muhammad Mahdi Akef, called on Saudi Arabia to “put an immediate end to the fighting in Yemen’s battles.”

That call has stirred a spat with Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), which says the Brotherhood is using the conflict in northern Yemen to sow strife among Muslims..

Dr. Mustafa Alani, research program director at the Gulf Research Center, said it was not surprising that a conflict that has drawn intervention from Saudi Arabia and Iran is of concern to political players in Egypt.

“The main reason why this all started is because Hamas moved closer to Tehran, and Hamas is one of the most successful products of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Alani told The Media Line. “This is why the Muslim Brotherhood in general has been accused of taking a relaxed attitude towards the Iranian interventionist policies. The Iranians believe the Muslim Brotherhood is helping to promote national interests.”

The rebellion in North Yemen, led by a Shia affiliated group called the Al-Houthis, began in 2004, intensified in August and over the past week has drawn military intervention from the Saudi army.

Saudi Arabia claimed to regain control over an area seized by rebels last week, but insists that its offensive has been restricted to its own soil and has not drifted into Yemen. 

Yemen accuses Tehran of providing training and support to the rebels as part of the Sunni-Shia power struggle in the region.

NDP officials argue that the Brotherhood has condemned the Saudis for defending Saudi territory, but has never censured Al-Houthi rebels for killing Yemeni civilians.

“Why isn’t the Muslim Brotherhood issuing a statement about the Al-Houthis spilling of blood, or at least targeting the Al-Houthis and Saudi Arabia, rather than just the Saudis?” Mustafa Fiqqi, head of the Egyptian parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee told A-Sharq Al-Awsat.

Regional analysts are concerned that the conflict may stir wider confrontations between Sunnis and Shi’ites in the Middle East.

“For Saudi Arabia, Yemen is the backyard of Saudi security,” Alani said, explaining why Riyadh would be concerned about the rebellion. “The assassination attempt on [Saudi] Prince Muhammad was organized in Yemen and Al-Qa’ida is now active in Yemen, not necessarily against Yemen but against Saudi Arabia. It’s the same with the Houthis – it’s an internal problem but they’re crossing the border to Saudi Arabia.”

“But you can’t compare the concerns in Saudi Arabia about the developments in Yemen with the Iranian position,” he continued. “The Iranian position is to try to take advantage by using Yemen to undermine Saudi security and stability.”

In this sense, Alani said, Iran was using the rebels as a proxy to serve their own interests.

As well as putting Iran on the spot, Yemen officials are also accusing groups in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia of providing the rebels with material support. All of these countries have Shi’ite populations likely to be supportive of a Shi’ite rebellion.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah rejected the accusations on Sunday, telling Al-Arabiya that his country stood by Saudi Arabia’s right to protect its borders against “any foreign hostilities.”

“Kuwait strongly condemns any criminal activity carried out by armed men who infiltrated Saudi Arabia in the Jazan district,” the minister said in a statement.

The conflict is also rousing tension between Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia ahead of the Hajj, or annual pilgrimage. Tehran claims the Saudis are maltreating Iranian nationals wishing to enter the kingdom to carry out the religious ritual. 

Rebels affiliated with the Al-Houthi clan are based in Yemen’s north, and have been involved in violent clashes with the national army in which hundreds of people on both sides have been killed.

Al-Houthi fighters belong to the Zaidi minority, an offshoot of Shia Islam. The Zaidis form a minority in Yemen but are the majority in the country’s north. Al-Houthi fighters wish to restore the Zaidi imamate, which was overthrown in a 1962 coup, and accuse the Yemenite government of being too closely allied with the United States.

Yemen’s army has been stretched since May by a separate secessionist rebellion in the south.

In addition, Sanaa is trying to eradicate an Al-Qa’ida presence in the country.