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[00:00:10] It's 6pm in London. This is the
[00:00:12] World Today with Maryam Moshiri. Moshiri. Ukraine's President Zelensky
[00:00:16] Zelensky says Russia hit a power power plant in Ukraine immediately
[00:00:19] immediately after Donald Trump claimed claimed both sides had agreed to
[00:00:23] to an energy ceasefire. Saudi Arabia Arabia threatens what it calls a
[00:00:26] a serious response to deadly Houthi Houthi attacks on Riyadh's international
[00:00:29] international airport. Flights remain remain suspended. We have a special
[00:00:34] special report from inside Yemen, Yemen, where the long running civil civil war is escalating. We've been
[00:00:37] been told that there are Houthi fighters
[00:00:40] fighters in position up in the mountains. mountains. About 500 of them. And
[00:00:44] And since we've been here, the forces forces are keeping an eye on the
[00:00:47] the sky just to make sure that there
[00:00:49] there are no more drones coming. coming. As the mid-term elections
[00:00:52] elections loom in the US., we have have a special report on one of the
[00:00:56] the key political flashpoints data
[00:00:58] data centres, which power AI. Also
[00:01:00] Also coming up on the world today, today, more on how a major cyber
[00:01:04] cyber attack in France has caused caused fridges and freezers at hundreds
[00:01:08] hundreds of supermarkets to fail.
[00:01:20] Hello and welcome to The World
[00:01:23] Today on BBC News. Well, Russia's Russia's foreign minister says Ukraine Ukraine doesn't deserve any respite.
[00:01:27] respite. Just a day after President President Trump announced Ukraine
[00:01:29] Ukraine and Russia had agreed to to stop attacking each other's energy
[00:01:33] energy infrastructure, Ukraine's Ukraine's President Zelensky, who who said he would support a ceasefire,
[00:01:37] ceasefire, accused Russia of attacking attacking six energy facilities less
[00:01:41] less than 24 hours later, he called called on Donald Trump to put increased
[00:01:44] increased pressure on Vladimir Putin Putin after more than four years
[00:01:47] years of war. Dan Johnson reports
[00:01:49] reports from Kyiv. This is the soundtrack
[00:01:53] soundtrack to Ukraine's energy crisis
[00:01:56] crisis and the power cuts continue
[00:01:59] continue despite Donald Trump's ceasefire
[00:02:01] ceasefire announcement. We just adapt,
[00:02:04] adapt, Natalia says. Putin is a scoundrel.
[00:02:07] scoundrel. He doesn't want peace.
[00:02:10] peace. At least businesses have a a way of keeping the lights on. Many
[00:02:14] Many of the residents here aren't aren't so fortunate. They don't have have the option of generators. And
[00:02:18] And if you're living in a tower block
[00:02:20] block like that, when the lift stops
[00:02:23] stops working, that's 16 flights
[00:02:24] flights of stairs. And many are having
[00:02:28] having to store water ready for the
[00:02:29] the next outage when the pumps stop.
[00:02:33] stop. Olga has lived through 81 winters
[00:02:36] winters but wasn't relishing another.
[00:02:40] another. Trump should hurry up and and put Putin in his place instead
[00:02:43] instead of pretending to be friends friends with him. All those phone
[00:02:46] phone calls between them, he should should come here to Ukraine and see
[00:02:50] see our homes, see how badly they've
[00:02:53] they've been destroyed. This started started with Donald Trump's deal
[00:02:56] deal to lift restrictions on Russian Russian diesel, a betrayal in Ukrainian
[00:03:00] Ukrainian eyes. The ceasefire came came as a surprise to Ukraine's president,
[00:03:04] president, who said he'd sign up
[00:03:06] up but claims Russia's hit six more
[00:03:09] more energy facilities. It was clear
[00:03:11] clear that Putin does not read Truth
[00:03:15] Truth Social. Russia is trying to
[00:03:18] to use another winter, another period
[00:03:20] period of cold weather against our
[00:03:23] our country, taking our power plants,
[00:03:26] plants, power grids and all parts
[00:03:29] parts of our energy infrastructure
[00:03:31] infrastructure every single day.
[00:03:36] day. Russia's first response was was this a strike on a Kharkiv suburb
[00:03:40] suburb people there think was destined
[00:03:43] destined for its power station. We'd
[00:03:45] We'd already seen the statement that that they wouldn't target energy
[00:03:49] energy facilities, and we really really believed it. Ten minutes had
[00:03:51] had passed and there had already already been five strikes. My child
[00:03:54] child and I saw a missile hit thermal thermal power plant number five and
[00:03:58] and watched it burn there. It's horrific.
[00:04:01] horrific. The Kremlin's only comment
[00:04:04] comment has been about Zelensky.
[00:04:07] Zelensky. I do not think he deserves deserves a respite. I don't think
[00:04:10] think we'll be buying into assurances
[00:04:12] assurances and promises again. So
[00:04:15] So many Kyiv streets remain in darkness
[00:04:18] darkness and Ukrainians are under
[00:04:20] under no illusions. Russia's war
[00:04:23] war continues. Well, talking to Dan Dan Johnson in a moment, but now
[00:04:26] now let's cross live and speak to to Angela Stent, who's a senior fellow
[00:04:29] fellow at the American Enterprise Enterprise Institute and author of
[00:04:33] of Putin's World Russia against the the West. Thank you so much for joining
[00:04:36] joining us here on the world today. today. And first of all, I guess
[00:04:38] guess the question is how unusual unusual is it for a ceasefire to
[00:04:42] to be announced before both sides sides have actually publicly agreed
[00:04:45] agreed to it? So I think this isn't isn't the first time it's happened
[00:04:49] happened with President Trump. There There have been a couple of other other times when he's announced such
[00:04:52] such a ceasefire, and it's never
[00:04:55] never come into being. So for him, him, it isn't that unusual. But I
[00:04:59] I think in general, of course, it it would be because you would have
[00:05:02] have to have both parties agreeing
[00:05:03] agreeing to an energy cease fire. fire. Ukraine, as President Zelensky
[00:05:07] Zelensky said, is quite willing to to agree to that. But there's no
[00:05:10] no indication that Russia ever agreed agreed to it. And why would Russia Russia agree to it, given that it
[00:05:14] it spent many years targeting Ukraine's Ukraine's energy infrastructure?
[00:05:17] infrastructure? Angela? Well, it
[00:05:20] it wouldn't agree to it also because
[00:05:23] because even though the Ukrainians Ukrainians are striking Russian energy
[00:05:27] energy facilities, they now have have this deal announced at least
[00:05:30] least by President Trump. They're They're going to export more diesel. diesel. So they're still going to
[00:05:34] to earn the revenues they need to
[00:05:35] to keep their war machine going.
[00:05:38] going. Is the US prioritising energy energy stability over military pressure
[00:05:41] pressure on Russia? Do you think? think? I think what the US is doing
[00:05:45] doing now under President Trump they're they're he's prioritising what's
[00:05:48] what's going to happen in the mid-term mid-term elections that are going
[00:05:51] going to happen. I believe in three
[00:05:53] three weeks' time where it's said said that the Republicans aren't
[00:05:56] aren't going to do so well. And so
[00:05:58] so he's trying to lower petrol prices
[00:06:01] prices in the United States, and and particularly diesel prices, which
[00:06:04] which are really quite high because because voters are quite dissatisfied
[00:06:08] dissatisfied with him. But I think think we have to remember the reason
[00:06:10] reason why petrol prices are so high high in the United States has much
[00:06:14] much more to do with the Iranian
[00:06:16] Iranian war than it does with the the Russia-Ukraine war. Let's talk
[00:06:19] talk a little bit about President President Putin. What do you think think he's thinking right now? Have
[00:06:23] Have you seen anything to suggest suggest that President Putin is in
[00:06:25] in any way, shape or form prepared
[00:06:28] prepared to compromise? None at all.
[00:06:30] all. In fact, I think he's very happy
[00:06:32] happy that with this diesel deal deal announced the sanctions against
[00:06:35] against Russia are now being removed, removed, at least from the US side,
[00:06:39] side, not from the European side. side. He's going to earn more money
[00:06:42] money and he sees no reason to stop
[00:06:44] stop this war. As long as he can can humour President Trump into believing
[00:06:48] believing that at some point he will will do that because he believes
[00:06:51] believes that Russia is winning. winning. The winter is going to be
[00:06:54] be very difficult for Ukraine. European European countries are doing as much
[00:06:57] much as they can to support Ukraine, Ukraine, but there's a limit to how
[00:07:01] how much they can do. And US support
[00:07:03] support is certainly waning. So I
[00:07:05] I do not believe that Putin believes believes there's any necessity, any
[00:07:09] any urgency to engage either in an
[00:07:10] an energy cease fire or ready to
[00:07:14] to negotiate seriously to end the the war. Angela, great to get your
[00:07:17] your analysis. Thank you so much. much. Thank you. Well, let's cross
[00:07:20] cross live now and speak to Dan Johnson, Johnson, who is our Kyiv correspondent.
[00:07:23] correspondent. We heard from a little little bit earlier, Dan, as we sit
[00:07:27] sit here and discuss what a ceasefire
[00:07:28] ceasefire may or may not entail, entail, those Ukrainians living in
[00:07:32] in Ukraine are facing another winter, winter, are they not, of electricity
[00:07:36] electricity outages, of no heat, heat, no light for so many people
[00:07:39] people for so many hours a day? Yeah.
[00:07:43] Yeah. That is the stark reality that that Ukrainians are facing. It's
[00:07:47] It's already the reality there have have been rolling power cuts for
[00:07:49] for the last week or more as part
[00:07:51] part of a programme to try to preserve
[00:07:54] preserve energy. So people are already already living without heat, without
[00:07:58] without power, without light, some some of them without water because because they need electricity to
[00:08:01] to pump that to the top of tower tower blocks. So I was talking to
[00:08:05] to a resident earlier. She was showing showing me the buckets that she's she's already filled up in the bath,
[00:08:08] bath, ready for the next time the the power goes off and the taps run
[00:08:11] run dry. The public transports been been freezing, the metro trains have
[00:08:15] have stopped at times. The trolley trolley buses have ground to a halt
[00:08:18] halt and had to be towed back to to the depot. So Ukrainians know
[00:08:21] know from what they've seen already already what they experienced last
[00:08:24] last year and how bitterly cold they they know the winter can be. Through
[00:08:27] Through those long, dark months, months, how miserable Russia is able
[00:08:30] able to make life here for so many
[00:08:32] many months on end. That's why they
[00:08:34] they value this prospect of a ceasefire,
[00:08:38] ceasefire, even if they doubt the the Russians will actually abide
[00:08:41] abide by it, there is that hope that
[00:08:43] that it can at least make some moves moves towards improving life. And
[00:08:46] And I think that's why President President Zelensky has thrown his
[00:08:49] his weight behind this in the hope hope that it will deliver some results,
[00:08:52] results, or at least that he's on on the right side of this and won't
[00:08:55] won't be to blame if it doesn't work work out. And that's the key, isn't isn't it? I guess that tightrope
[00:08:59] tightrope that President Zelensky Zelensky has to walk, given the fact fact that this is obviously being
[00:09:03] being pushed by President Trump, Trump, of whom he wants to keep on
[00:09:06] on the right side, but also, as you you mentioned, it's difficult to
[00:09:10] to foresee the Russians actually
[00:09:11] actually compromising. And the Ukrainians
[00:09:14] Ukrainians know this. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:09:17] absolutely. It's been another low low point in US Ukrainian relations
[00:09:20] relations over the past few days, days, with Donald Trump calling for
[00:09:24] for Zelensky to go, calling for elections. elections. The Ukrainians saying
[00:09:27] saying that President Trump was weak weak for the deal that he did with
[00:09:30] with Vladimir Putin. So I think Zelensky's
[00:09:32] Zelensky's moves today are in trying
[00:09:34] trying to rebuild that trust and and relationship to get the Americans
[00:09:38] Americans back onside. He also needs needs their military support, their
[00:09:41] their intelligence, their weapons weapons and their pressure on Russia Russia to try to do the right thing
[00:09:45] thing and abide by this cease fire
[00:09:47] fire if it is going to take effect
[00:09:49] effect and have a real impact. There There is that scepticism. There is
[00:09:52] is that doubt that it will work out. out. But perhaps there are at least
[00:09:55] least some benefits for the Ukrainians Ukrainians here. The key calculation calculation then is the Kremlin's.
[00:09:59] Kremlin's. What's more important important to them continuing to hit
[00:10:02] hit Ukraine's energy infrastructure infrastructure through the winter winter or preserving their own oil
[00:10:06] oil refineries? The Kremlin's playing playing its cards close to its chest.
[00:10:09] chest. Given very little response response to this so far, not unusual
[00:10:12] unusual for them to take that position. position. And it may well be it's
[00:10:15] it's entirely possible they try to
[00:10:16] to have it both ways. OK, Dan, thank
[00:10:20] thank you very much. We'll have much much more on the war in Ukraine coming
[00:10:23] coming up as The Security Brief goes
[00:10:26] goes live in front of a studio audience audience tonight. You can watch that
[00:10:29] that here on BBC News. You can also also watch it on the BBC iPlayer
[00:10:33] iPlayer and the BBC News YouTube
[00:10:34] YouTube channel. It's today at half
[00:10:37] half past 7pm UK time. Christine
[00:10:39] Christine and Mikey will have live
[00:10:41] live analysis and a panel of exciting exciting guests as well, so do tune
[00:10:45] tune in for that now let's take a a short break because the Iran war
[00:10:48] war today is coming up next, including including a special report from the
[00:10:52] the front line in Yemen, around the
[00:10:54] the world and across the UK. This This is The World Today on BBC
[00:11:57] Security Brief live with an audience
[00:11:58] audience here on BBC News. MUSIC
[00:12:11] MUSIC Hello, Hello, I'm Maryam Moshiri and this this is the Iran War today, bringing
[00:12:15] bringing you up to date with all all you need to know on the US-Israel
[00:12:18] US-Israel war with Iran. Well, let's let's start with some of today's
[00:12:21] today's key developments. Now Saudi
[00:12:24] Saudi officials say one person has has been killed and nearly a dozen
[00:12:26] dozen others injured in the latest latest attack on Riyadh's international
[00:12:30] international airport by the Iran Iran backed Houthi group in Yemen.
[00:12:34] Yemen. Flights across Saudi Arabia Arabia are being heavily disrupted.
[00:12:37] disrupted. Riyadh's international international airport has suspended suspended flights until Saturday
[00:12:41] Saturday after three deadly attacks attacks in recent days in Yemen,
[00:12:45] Yemen, fighting is reported to have have intensified around the city
[00:12:48] city of Taiz, which has been encircled encircled by Houthi forces. We have
[00:12:52] have a special report from inside
[00:12:54] inside Yemen. Oil prices remain volatile
[00:12:58] volatile at around $106 a barrel barrel as tensions rise following
[00:13:01] following the attacks on Saudi Arabia. Arabia. Fresh incidents in the Strait
[00:13:04] Strait of Hormuz have also heightened heightened fears of disruptions to
[00:13:08] to oil exports. Well, Yemen's Houthi
[00:13:15] Houthi rebels have renewed their their attacks against Saudi Arabia,
[00:13:18] Arabia, firing more drones and missiles missiles into the country. It comes
[00:13:22] comes after two deadly strikes on on Riyadh's main international airport
[00:13:26] airport in as many days. Well, Saudi
[00:13:28] Saudi officials say one person was
[00:13:30] was killed and 11 wounded in an attack attack on King Khalid International
[00:13:34] International Airport on Sunday, Sunday, just hours after another
[00:13:37] another Houthi claimed attack on on the airport killed 13 people and
[00:13:41] and left hundreds of others wounded. wounded. Well, this footage from
[00:13:45] from Saudi state TV shows the orange
[00:13:47] orange flash of the missile blast blast passengers waiting for their
[00:13:50] their flights managed to escape from
[00:13:52] from that blast, though our security security correspondent Frank Gardner
[00:13:55] Gardner will be here to discuss those
[00:13:58] those attacks on Saudi Arabia. But But first, let's discuss in detail
[00:14:02] detail what's happening right now
[00:14:04] now inside Yemen and indeed why the
[00:14:06] the war first began in 2014 when
[00:14:09] when Houthi fighters gained control
[00:14:11] control of the capital Sana'a. Since Since 2015, a Saudi led coalition
[00:14:14] coalition has been trying with heavy heavy air strikes to restore the
[00:14:18] the internationally recognised government government to power. In recent weeks,
[00:14:21] weeks, though, the Houthis have carried carried out a lightning advance catching
[00:14:25] catching off guard Saudi backed government government forces, they've swept
[00:14:29] swept along the west coast of the the country, taking control of the
[00:14:32] the Bab el Mandeb Strait. It's a
[00:14:34] a key maritime corridor. Well, since since then, government forces have
[00:14:38] have managed to retake some territory.
[00:14:40] territory. Our senior international international correspondent, Orla Orla Guerin, is in the capital, Aden
[00:14:44] Aden and has sent us this report report a warning it does contain
[00:14:48] contain distressing images. Crossing
[00:14:52] Crossing the desert, a remote battlefield
[00:14:54] battlefield in a civil war that is
[00:14:56] is fast becoming a major regional
[00:14:59] regional threat. We travelled with
[00:15:03] with Yemen's southern forces fighters fighters loyal to the internationally
[00:15:07] internationally recognised government. government. In this landscape of
[00:15:10] of harsh beauty, they have regained
[00:15:13] regained lost ground and took us
[00:15:15] us to see it here. The wreckage of
[00:15:18] of a Houthi drone shot out of the
[00:15:21] the sky. How much damage could this
[00:15:24] this have done? Commander Tawfik
[00:15:26] Tawfik Al Haugen says it contained
[00:15:29] contained explosives. And could kill
[00:15:33] kill 10 to 15 people. This whole
[00:15:38] whole area has just been retaken retaken by pro-government forces.
[00:15:41] forces. They captured it about three
[00:15:44] three days ago. Until then, the Houthis Houthis were in control here. They've
[00:15:48] They've been pushed back. And we've we've been told that there are Houthi
[00:15:52] Houthi fighters in position up in in the mountains. About 500 of them.
[00:15:55] them. And since we've been here, here, the forces are keeping an eye
[00:15:58] eye on the sky just to make sure
[00:16:00] sure that there are no more drones
[00:16:03] drones coming. And here, scenes from
[00:16:06] from the battle to retake this territory.
[00:16:11] territory. No military precision
[00:16:13] precision in this desert campaign.
[00:16:16] campaign. Just a loose alliance of of pro-government fighters. Some
[00:16:19] Some of them barefoot. As we left
[00:16:25] left front lines about a mile from
[00:16:28] from the Houthis government reinforcements
[00:16:30] reinforcements were heading in. Along
[00:16:35] Along the way, a tableau of suffering
[00:16:38] suffering for some of those who have
[00:16:39] have fled the fighting, the only
[00:16:42] only shelter is the trees. Aisha
[00:16:45] Aisha tells me she has been here
[00:16:47] here for 30 days with no money, no
[00:16:51] no food and no water. Not even a
[00:16:55] a blanket. Yemen's civil war is casting
[00:16:57] casting a shadow well beyond its
[00:17:00] its borders. The Houthis are a threat
[00:17:03] threat to international shipping shipping and increasingly a threat
[00:17:06] threat to Saudi Arabia. But for their
[00:17:09] their backers in Iran, they provide
[00:17:13] provide leverage in operating rooms
[00:17:14] rooms in the city of Aden, geopolitics
[00:17:17] geopolitics feels remote night and
[00:17:19] and day. Doctors are treating wounded
[00:17:23] wounded fighters. That includes the
[00:17:25] the enemy. This man is a Houthi,
[00:17:28] Houthi, but most here are from the
[00:17:31] the government side. When you get get a real sense here of how fierce
[00:17:35] fierce the fighting is, this hospital
[00:17:38] hospital alone has received 51 wounded
[00:17:40] wounded fighters today. Every bed bed in the intensive care unit is
[00:17:44] is full. They've been arriving with
[00:17:46] with gunshot wounds with shrapnel.
[00:17:49] shrapnel. Some have had limbs amputated amputated and the casualties keep
[00:17:52] keep coming. We've been told there
[00:17:54] there are three more on the way.
[00:17:58] way. The battles in Yemen are ebbing
[00:18:00] ebbing and flowing with no clear
[00:18:03] clear victor, but plenty more trauma.
[00:18:06] trauma. For some, the war will always
[00:18:08] always be with them. Some still have
[00:18:11] have their fighting spirit, like
[00:18:14] like Ahmed Ali Mahmoud. He wants
[00:18:16] wants to get back to the front. Despite
[00:18:19] Despite multiple fractures. I'm not
[00:18:25] not waiting to be fully recovered, recovered, he told us. I just want
[00:18:28] want to be able to stand. I think
[00:18:30] think it's a religious duty and a
[00:18:33] a national duty. The Houthis have have destroyed the country. Come
[00:18:36] Come on. In the next ward. Ali, who
[00:18:41] who is 121 year older than Yemen's
[00:18:43] Yemen's war. He was injured by a
[00:18:46] a drone and is now facing a complicated
[00:18:49] complicated surgery. There is shrapnel
[00:18:52] shrapnel near his spine, says Doctor
[00:18:54] Doctor Ammar Al-sakkaf. The operation operation won't be easy, but God
[00:18:58] God willing our staff will be able
[00:19:00] able to handle it. But will war follow
[00:19:05] follow Ali into adulthood? Well,
[00:19:08] Well, it is of course, extremely extremely difficult for journalists journalists to get access to Yemen,
[00:19:11] Yemen, but Orla Guerin has been allowed allowed in and joins us now from
[00:19:14] from the port city of Aden. And although although we have had warnings from
[00:19:17] from the UN about the humanitarian humanitarian situation, how serious
[00:19:20] serious is it becoming? The difficulty
[00:19:24] difficulty for Yemen, Marianne, is
[00:19:25] is that things were very bad even
[00:19:28] even before the latest upsurge in in fighting. Before that happened,
[00:19:32] happened, about 40% of the medical
[00:19:35] medical facilities in this country country were not functioning. There
[00:19:38] There was a longstanding problem problem of malnutrition, which has
[00:19:41] has very deep roots here since the
[00:19:44] the fighting last month, since everything
[00:19:46] everything worsened again, the figures figures are really, really stark
[00:19:50] stark that are coming from the UN.
[00:19:51] UN. They are warning that 3 in 4
[00:19:54] 4 families here are facing hunger.
[00:19:58] hunger. The 22 million people require require assistance. And if you look
[00:20:00] look at the position of children,
[00:20:03] children, it's even worse. The projections
[00:20:06] projections are that 2.2 million million children will suffer from
[00:20:09] from acute malnutrition this year
[00:20:11] year and that in 500,000 cases it
[00:20:14] it will be life threatening. Now Now we have seen some malnourished
[00:20:17] malnourished children here in the the hospitals in the last few weeks,
[00:20:20] weeks, and we have seen some that that were suffering from malnutrition
[00:20:23] malnutrition and are also casualties casualties of the war. So people
[00:20:26] people are dealing with trauma on
[00:20:29] on trauma here. How confident are
[00:20:32] are we all that the government forces forces you're with are able to beat
[00:20:36] beat back the Houthis so that they they can't affect vessels through
[00:20:40] through that key Bab al-Mandab Strait?
[00:20:43] Strait? I think it's very much an an open question still, Mariam. I
[00:20:47] I mean, we have seen the government government recover some ground. The
[00:20:51] The forces that we were with took
[00:20:53] took us to territory that had been
[00:20:55] been newly retaken, but we know there
[00:20:57] there is still fighting taking place place around the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
[00:21:01] Strait. And that is a key prize for for the Houthis. They will be very
[00:21:05] very slow to want to give it up. up. They poured forces into that
[00:21:08] that area. The government advance, advance, I have to say, has been
[00:21:12] been quite slow, but they are managing managing to take a little bit of
[00:21:15] of territory, pushing forward as as they go. They told us yesterday
[00:21:19] yesterday they believed that within within a day or so they would have
[00:21:22] have complete control of the area. area. But I think we have to take
[00:21:25] take that with some caution. There There have been claims and counterclaims
[00:21:29] counterclaims taking place between between the two sides. And let's
[00:21:32] let's remember the Houthis are now
[00:21:35] now a very experienced fighting force. force. What they have been able to
[00:21:39] to do striking the airport in Riyadh
[00:21:41] Riyadh in recent days, as shows you
[00:21:44] you just how skilled and well equipped equipped they are. If I can put it
[00:21:47] it in those terms. Orla, thank you.
[00:21:52] you. Well, let's return now to the the security situation in Saudi Arabia
[00:21:56] Arabia where flights are again being being heavily disrupted by the missiles
[00:21:59] missiles being fired towards the the country from Yemen. This next next footage is from an attack on
[00:22:03] on Saturday. In the pictures. Well, Well, they're quite graphic. 13 people
[00:22:07] people were killed in this strike
[00:22:09] strike when a missile hit King Khalid Khalid Airport International Airport
[00:22:12] Airport in Riyadh. Hundreds were were injured. Another person was
[00:22:15] was killed in an attack there on on Sunday. The international airport
[00:22:18] airport in Riyadh has suspended flights flights until next Saturday after
[00:22:21] after a total of three deadly attacks
[00:22:23] attacks in the past few days alone. alone. Well, as we're reporting,
[00:22:26] reporting, the Iranian backed Houthi Houthi say they're targeting Saudi
[00:22:29] Saudi Arabia because of its support support for government forces in
[00:22:32] in Yemen's civil war. Salman Al-Ansari Al-Ansari is a geopolitical analyst
[00:22:36] analyst in Riyadh. He said the response response of the Saudi led coalition
[00:22:39] coalition operating Yemen has to
[00:22:40] to be firm. A decisive all out confrontation
[00:22:44] confrontation is needed, including including treating the Iranian backed
[00:22:47] backed Houthis as a terrorist organisation organisation like Isis and Al-Qaeda.
[00:22:50] Al-Qaeda. With regards to the international international community. On top of of them is the United States. We
[00:22:54] We have seen how they have voiced
[00:22:56] voiced solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Arabia. So definitely we are right
[00:22:59] right now in a position where we
[00:23:02] we are rallying international support.
[00:23:06] support. Well, just how seriously seriously are these attacks on Saudi
[00:23:09] Saudi Arabia affecting the country's country's reputation? Here's Doctor Doctor Elisabeth Kendall, a Yemen
[00:23:13] Yemen and Middle East expert at the
[00:23:15] the University of Cambridge. Badly Badly it's going to affect Saudis
[00:23:19] Saudis reputation badly because this this is a time when Saudi is already
[00:23:23] already suffering economically from
[00:23:25] from a lot of pressure on its oil oil exports, its major source of
[00:23:29] of revenue. If you couple that with
[00:23:31] with its look ahead to vision 2030
[00:23:34] 2030 and economic diversification diversification via Red Sea tourism
[00:23:38] tourism via attracting foreign investment
[00:23:42] investment via expanding commerce commerce and business, all of that
[00:23:45] that relies on having reliable logistics
[00:23:49] logistics hubs like airports. Well, Well, let's dive a bit more deeply
[00:23:51] deeply into this with me as our security security correspondent, Frank Gardner Gardner and Frank, Saudi Arabia's
[00:23:55] Arabia's energy minister saying there's there's going to be a serious response
[00:23:58] response to these attacks. But why why is it that Saudi Arabia seemingly
[00:24:01] seemingly can't defend itself against against this Houthi threat? Saudi
[00:24:05] Saudi Arabia has spent seven years years trying to bomb the Houthis
[00:24:08] Houthis into submission from 2015
[00:24:11] 2015 to 2022, and they failed. There
[00:24:14] There is a clear parallel here between between what's gone on in the Strait
[00:24:17] Strait of Hormuz, where the United United States, by far the biggest
[00:24:21] biggest military power versus Iran
[00:24:24] Iran is matched by Saudi Arabia by
[00:24:28] by far the bigger power versus Yemen's
[00:24:30] Yemen's Houthis. And yet in both
[00:24:32] both the case of Iran and Yemen's
[00:24:35] Yemen's Houthis, they have played played a weak hand extraordinarily
[00:24:38] extraordinarily well. They have both
[00:24:40] both become experts in asymmetric
[00:24:43] asymmetric warfare in fighting back back in ways that their adversary adversary didn't expect. So the answer
[00:24:47] answer to your question, I think, think, is that it's several reasons. reasons. Saudi Arabia is a big country.
[00:24:51] country. You've got an awful lot lot of targets there, and the Saudis Saudis can't protect everything.
[00:24:55] everything. They have spent billions.
[00:24:56] billions. I mean, to be precise,
[00:25:01] precise, $83,000,000,083.2 billion billion last year on defence. That's
[00:25:04] That's a massive defence budget, budget, the eighth biggest in the the world at the time. And of course
[00:25:08] course it's prompting plenty of Saudis Saudis to think hang on a minute,
[00:25:11] minute, we've spent all this money
[00:25:13] money on glitzy planes and missiles
[00:25:16] missiles and all this defence. Why Why is it that the Houthis are able
[00:25:19] able to bomb our main airport with
[00:25:22] with impunity? And I think questions questions will be asked as to why
[00:25:25] why there was no early warning about about that. But the Houthis have
[00:25:29] have got they've had a big helping helping hand from Iran's Islamic
[00:25:33] Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Corps. The Quds Force, part of the
[00:25:37] the IRGC who've trained them in precision
[00:25:40] precision targeting. Initially, Iran Iran provided the Houthis with a
[00:25:43] a lot of missiles and drones. The The Houthis now produce their own
[00:25:45] own and they store it underground underground in caves, in labyrinths,
[00:25:49] labyrinths, in tunnels. And the Saudis Saudis can't bomb all of it. And
[00:25:53] And let's talk a little bit more more about those front lines in Yemen
[00:25:55] Yemen that we saw there and always always reporting. How is it that
[00:25:59] that he's been so effective at taking taking ground, you know, such big
[00:26:03] big swathes of territory? How have have they been able to do that? So
[00:26:06] So first of all, back in 2014, they
[00:26:08] they took advantage of the chaos chaos in the aftermath of the Arab
[00:26:12] Arab Spring. Do you remember there there was you know, it's a dirty dirty word now in the Arab world,
[00:26:15] world, Arab Spring, they call it
[00:26:16] it the Arab Winter. Al Arabiya but
[00:26:20] but the meaning the Arab winter.
[00:26:23] winter. But in 2014 they advanced advanced down, took the Saudi capital, capital, Sana'a, almost without a
[00:26:27] a shot. And then they had the backing backing of the ousted president,
[00:26:30] president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Republican Republican guard. And then they got
[00:26:33] got the Iranians in to help them. them. Actually, the Iranians had had been helping them for a while,
[00:26:37] while, but they've had a lot of technical technical help, even from Hezbollah
[00:26:40] Hezbollah as well. So they've become
[00:26:43] become a formidable force, which, which, as I say, the Saudis failed
[00:26:46] failed to dislodge them. And now
[00:26:49] now where they're fighting in the the mountains, the Houthis have the
[00:26:52] the upper hand. They are mountain mountain people from a part of Yemen
[00:26:55] Yemen in the far north called Saada.
[00:26:57] Saada. It's a city not that far from from the Saudi border. And on land,
[00:27:01] land, the Saudis and their allies, allies, the sort of various different
[00:27:05] different coalition factions loyal loyal to the previous Yemeni government government have not really been able
[00:27:09] able to dislodge them. Where the
[00:27:11] the Houthis are vulnerable is on
[00:27:14] on the coastal plain known as the the Tihama on the Red Sea coast because
[00:27:18] because there it's flat with lots lots of open terrain and they are
[00:27:21] are very vulnerable to Saudi bombing
[00:27:23] bombing from the air. The Houthis
[00:27:27] Houthis took advantage of chaos a
[00:27:29] a few weeks ago to make a sudden sudden lightning rapid advance down
[00:27:32] down that Red Sea coast, taking the the towns of Al Mokha and the Bab
[00:27:36] Bab all the way down to Perim Island Island and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
[00:27:40] Strait. They've been pushed back back from some of it, but not all
[00:27:43] all of it. And they were able to
[00:27:45] to do that because they had advice advice and instruction from Iran's
[00:27:49] Iran's Revolutionary Guards. OK, OK, Frank, thank you very much indeed.
[00:27:53] indeed. Whether you're joining us us on YouTube, TikTok, sounds Radio
[00:27:56] Radio or TV, thank you for your time.
[00:27:58] time. We're back soon with another
[00:28:00] another Iran war today.