You say "if the alternative is between...", and then proceed to just accept the false choice that it's either tyranny or anarchy, using that reasoning to give a pass to the scum making a buck from some of the most disgusting regimes on the planet. Western countries took generations of incremental improvements to arrive here, all while tyrants always used that argument to try stay on top.
You're uncritically buying the line that Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood are the worst (which could be argued) but the other less so, because they are on "our side". If you prioritise human rights, that lives on both sides are equally valuable (and I suspect from this thread that you don't) then such a distinction is meaningless.
It's a fear-driven siege mentality and terribly short sighted to think that in the region that brought us Gadhafi, Saddam, Daesh and the Mujahaddin, somehow KSA, Egypt or the UAE will magically always align with however your interests evolve.
Thanks to NSO they ARE a step closer to North Korea and destabilising the region in the long term with repression and misery. But you're only interested in short term outcomes for Israel/Western countries, kicking the can down the road when the consequences of such sales will have unknown impacts for decades.
After seeing how it's played out, it's just exhausting to see this kind of mentality after all these years, lost lives and lessons apparently unlearned. Along with greed, this mentality is why the mercenary surveillance industry exists. For the sake of everyones kids both need to end.
The Houthis are an extremely well armed group supported by Iran, please read about the topic you are uninformed. I am not saying what's going on there isn't tragic but it's far from "good guys vs bad guys". Iran had a role in what happened in Yemen as it had a role in what happened in Syria. Saudi Arabia is as far from liberalism as Iran, I acknowledge that. But they have much less of a will to export "the revolution" to other places - unlike Iran. They kinda mind their own business most of the time.
> You're uncritically buying the line that Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood are the worst (which could be argued) but the other less so, because they are on "our side".
You are being uncritical as well. If you have any info that suggests otherwise you can share it, otherwise don't just contradict me and call me uncritical.
> If you prioritise human rights, that lives on both sides are equally valuable
I prioritise human rights within reason. Since the Arab Spring we've seen the whole area can in fact get much worse for humans very quickly. "Democratizing" a place like Egypt probably means bringing a hostile (to the West and to freedom in general) Islamic Caliphate of some sort, which I don't like.
"But (KSA) have much less of a will to export "the revolution" to other places - unlike Iran. They kinda mind their own business most of the time." This is laughably ill informed. They've built over 10,000 new Hanbali, Salafist Wahabi madrassas in Pakistan over the past 50 years. Sent extremist imams everywhere from the Philippines, Indonesia, Mali, Bosnia, UK, the Netherlands. Backing the Janjaweed and ISIS affiliated groups around the world. You don't like an Islamic Caliphate? ISIS's principle enemy was not the US, not Israel but Iran which fought them with existential zeal in Iraq. Ignore the posturing, check the last time Iran actually invaded a country. Educate yourself. Stop just repeating the news.
Soo just how is the statement "They are bombing innocent Yemenis who have ZERO connection to Iran" contradicted by anything you've added? It's just a fact, as is the fact that KSA also bomb militants, using them and Iran as the pretext to do whatever they want, including using economic warfare against one of the poorest, hungriest populations in the world.
It's the standard 'but they're killing the bad guys' guilt-by-association, collective punishment line you seem strangely prepared to toe as a justification for brushing off the well documented bombing of innocent civilians. That mindset is probably the single biggest perpetuator of human rights violations on all sides in the Middle East. The casual cruelty of that and the ignorance are bad enough, but to then actively say "As long as it is what it is selling stuff to Saudi Arabia doesn't sound super terrible.", brushing off criticism of both the KSA and those making a buck off the situation, is abhorrent.
You'll happily buy the old, and false, pick-your-poison, brutal dictator vs. extremist Islamism dichotomy that lets you overlook human rights by "our sons of bitches", even while knowing how obviously bad that has worked out until today. But sure, you're "prioritising it within reason". Please. That's just the easy way out.
I don't want to be harsh but you don't seem to be well informed, reasoned or particularly concerned with ethical choices on this issue. Don't think I have much more to add.