Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:10It's 6pm in London. This is the
00:00:12World Today with Maryam Moshiri. Moshiri. Ukraine's President Zelensky
00:00:16Zelensky says Russia hit a power power plant in Ukraine immediately
00:00:19immediately after Donald Trump claimed claimed both sides had agreed to
00:00:23to an energy ceasefire. Saudi Arabia Arabia threatens what it calls a
00:00:26a serious response to deadly Houthi Houthi attacks on Riyadh's international
00:00:29international airport. Flights remain remain suspended. We have a special
00:00:34special report from inside Yemen, Yemen, where the long running civil civil war is escalating. We've been
00:00:37been told that there are Houthi fighters
00:00:40fighters in position up in the mountains. mountains. About 500 of them. And
00:00:44And since we've been here, the forces forces are keeping an eye on the
00:00:47the sky just to make sure that there
00:00:49there are no more drones coming. coming. As the mid-term elections
00:00:52elections loom in the US., we have have a special report on one of the
00:00:56the key political flashpoints data
00:00:58data centres, which power AI. Also
00:01:00Also coming up on the world today, today, more on how a major cyber
00:01:04cyber attack in France has caused caused fridges and freezers at hundreds
00:01:08hundreds of supermarkets to fail.
00:01:20Hello and welcome to The World
00:01:23Today on BBC News. Well, Russia's Russia's foreign minister says Ukraine Ukraine doesn't deserve any respite.
00:01:27respite. Just a day after President President Trump announced Ukraine
00:01:29Ukraine and Russia had agreed to to stop attacking each other's energy
00:01:33energy infrastructure, Ukraine's Ukraine's President Zelensky, who who said he would support a ceasefire,
00:01:37ceasefire, accused Russia of attacking attacking six energy facilities less
00:01:41less than 24 hours later, he called called on Donald Trump to put increased
00:01:44increased pressure on Vladimir Putin Putin after more than four years
00:01:47years of war. Dan Johnson reports
00:01:49reports from Kyiv. This is the soundtrack
00:01:53soundtrack to Ukraine's energy crisis
00:01:56crisis and the power cuts continue
00:01:59continue despite Donald Trump's ceasefire
00:02:01ceasefire announcement. We just adapt,
00:02:04adapt, Natalia says. Putin is a scoundrel.
00:02:07scoundrel. He doesn't want peace.
00:02:10peace. At least businesses have a a way of keeping the lights on. Many
00:02:14Many of the residents here aren't aren't so fortunate. They don't have have the option of generators. And
00:02:18And if you're living in a tower block
00:02:20block like that, when the lift stops
00:02:23stops working, that's 16 flights
00:02:24flights of stairs. And many are having
00:02:28having to store water ready for the
00:02:29the next outage when the pumps stop.
00:02:33stop. Olga has lived through 81 winters
00:02:36winters but wasn't relishing another.
00:02:40another. Trump should hurry up and and put Putin in his place instead
00:02:43instead of pretending to be friends friends with him. All those phone
00:02:46phone calls between them, he should should come here to Ukraine and see
00:02:50see our homes, see how badly they've
00:02:53they've been destroyed. This started started with Donald Trump's deal
00:02:56deal to lift restrictions on Russian Russian diesel, a betrayal in Ukrainian
00:03:00Ukrainian eyes. The ceasefire came came as a surprise to Ukraine's president,
00:03:04president, who said he'd sign up
00:03:06up but claims Russia's hit six more
00:03:09more energy facilities. It was clear
00:03:11clear that Putin does not read Truth
00:03:15Truth Social. Russia is trying to
00:03:18to use another winter, another period
00:03:20period of cold weather against our
00:03:23our country, taking our power plants,
00:03:26plants, power grids and all parts
00:03:29parts of our energy infrastructure
00:03:31infrastructure every single day.
00:03:36day. Russia's first response was was this a strike on a Kharkiv suburb
00:03:40suburb people there think was destined
00:03:43destined for its power station. We'd
00:03:45We'd already seen the statement that that they wouldn't target energy
00:03:49energy facilities, and we really really believed it. Ten minutes had
00:03:51had passed and there had already already been five strikes. My child
00:03:54child and I saw a missile hit thermal thermal power plant number five and
00:03:58and watched it burn there. It's horrific.
00:04:01horrific. The Kremlin's only comment
00:04:04comment has been about Zelensky.
00:04:07Zelensky. I do not think he deserves deserves a respite. I don't think
00:04:10think we'll be buying into assurances
00:04:12assurances and promises again. So
00:04:15So many Kyiv streets remain in darkness
00:04:18darkness and Ukrainians are under
00:04:20under no illusions. Russia's war
00:04:23war continues. Well, talking to Dan Dan Johnson in a moment, but now
00:04:26now let's cross live and speak to to Angela Stent, who's a senior fellow
00:04:29fellow at the American Enterprise Enterprise Institute and author of
00:04:33of Putin's World Russia against the the West. Thank you so much for joining
00:04:36joining us here on the world today. today. And first of all, I guess
00:04:38guess the question is how unusual unusual is it for a ceasefire to
00:04:42to be announced before both sides sides have actually publicly agreed
00:04:45agreed to it? So I think this isn't isn't the first time it's happened
00:04:49happened with President Trump. There There have been a couple of other other times when he's announced such
00:04:52such a ceasefire, and it's never
00:04:55never come into being. So for him, him, it isn't that unusual. But I
00:04:59I think in general, of course, it it would be because you would have
00:05:02have to have both parties agreeing
00:05:03agreeing to an energy cease fire. fire. Ukraine, as President Zelensky
00:05:07Zelensky said, is quite willing to to agree to that. But there's no
00:05:10no indication that Russia ever agreed agreed to it. And why would Russia Russia agree to it, given that it
00:05:14it spent many years targeting Ukraine's Ukraine's energy infrastructure?
00:05:17infrastructure? Angela? Well, it
00:05:20it wouldn't agree to it also because
00:05:23because even though the Ukrainians Ukrainians are striking Russian energy
00:05:27energy facilities, they now have have this deal announced at least
00:05:30least by President Trump. They're They're going to export more diesel. diesel. So they're still going to
00:05:34to earn the revenues they need to
00:05:35to keep their war machine going.
00:05:38going. Is the US prioritising energy energy stability over military pressure
00:05:41pressure on Russia? Do you think? think? I think what the US is doing
00:05:45doing now under President Trump they're they're he's prioritising what's
00:05:48what's going to happen in the mid-term mid-term elections that are going
00:05:51going to happen. I believe in three
00:05:53three weeks' time where it's said said that the Republicans aren't
00:05:56aren't going to do so well. And so
00:05:58so he's trying to lower petrol prices
00:06:01prices in the United States, and and particularly diesel prices, which
00:06:04which are really quite high because because voters are quite dissatisfied
00:06:08dissatisfied with him. But I think think we have to remember the reason
00:06:10reason why petrol prices are so high high in the United States has much
00:06:14much more to do with the Iranian
00:06:16Iranian war than it does with the the Russia-Ukraine war. Let's talk
00:06:19talk a little bit about President President Putin. What do you think think he's thinking right now? Have
00:06:23Have you seen anything to suggest suggest that President Putin is in
00:06:25in any way, shape or form prepared
00:06:28prepared to compromise? None at all.
00:06:30all. In fact, I think he's very happy
00:06:32happy that with this diesel deal deal announced the sanctions against
00:06:35against Russia are now being removed, removed, at least from the US side,
00:06:39side, not from the European side. side. He's going to earn more money
00:06:42money and he sees no reason to stop
00:06:44stop this war. As long as he can can humour President Trump into believing
00:06:48believing that at some point he will will do that because he believes
00:06:51believes that Russia is winning. winning. The winter is going to be
00:06:54be very difficult for Ukraine. European European countries are doing as much
00:06:57much as they can to support Ukraine, Ukraine, but there's a limit to how
00:07:01how much they can do. And US support
00:07:03support is certainly waning. So I
00:07:05I do not believe that Putin believes believes there's any necessity, any
00:07:09any urgency to engage either in an
00:07:10an energy cease fire or ready to
00:07:14to negotiate seriously to end the the war. Angela, great to get your
00:07:17your analysis. Thank you so much. much. Thank you. Well, let's cross
00:07:20cross live now and speak to Dan Johnson, Johnson, who is our Kyiv correspondent.
00:07:23correspondent. We heard from a little little bit earlier, Dan, as we sit
00:07:27sit here and discuss what a ceasefire
00:07:28ceasefire may or may not entail, entail, those Ukrainians living in
00:07:32in Ukraine are facing another winter, winter, are they not, of electricity
00:07:36electricity outages, of no heat, heat, no light for so many people
00:07:39people for so many hours a day? Yeah.
00:07:43Yeah. That is the stark reality that that Ukrainians are facing. It's
00:07:47It's already the reality there have have been rolling power cuts for
00:07:49for the last week or more as part
00:07:51part of a programme to try to preserve
00:07:54preserve energy. So people are already already living without heat, without
00:07:58without power, without light, some some of them without water because because they need electricity to
00:08:01to pump that to the top of tower tower blocks. So I was talking to
00:08:05to a resident earlier. She was showing showing me the buckets that she's she's already filled up in the bath,
00:08:08bath, ready for the next time the the power goes off and the taps run
00:08:11run dry. The public transports been been freezing, the metro trains have
00:08:15have stopped at times. The trolley trolley buses have ground to a halt
00:08:18halt and had to be towed back to to the depot. So Ukrainians know
00:08:21know from what they've seen already already what they experienced last
00:08:24last year and how bitterly cold they they know the winter can be. Through
00:08:27Through those long, dark months, months, how miserable Russia is able
00:08:30able to make life here for so many
00:08:32many months on end. That's why they
00:08:34they value this prospect of a ceasefire,
00:08:38ceasefire, even if they doubt the the Russians will actually abide
00:08:41abide by it, there is that hope that
00:08:43that it can at least make some moves moves towards improving life. And
00:08:46And I think that's why President President Zelensky has thrown his
00:08:49his weight behind this in the hope hope that it will deliver some results,
00:08:52results, or at least that he's on on the right side of this and won't
00:08:55won'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
00:08:59tightrope that President Zelensky Zelensky has to walk, given the fact fact that this is obviously being
00:09:03being pushed by President Trump, Trump, of whom he wants to keep on
00:09:06on the right side, but also, as you you mentioned, it's difficult to
00:09:10to foresee the Russians actually
00:09:11actually compromising. And the Ukrainians
00:09:14Ukrainians know this. Yeah, absolutely.
00:09:17absolutely. It's been another low low point in US Ukrainian relations
00:09:20relations over the past few days, days, with Donald Trump calling for
00:09:24for Zelensky to go, calling for elections. elections. The Ukrainians saying
00:09:27saying that President Trump was weak weak for the deal that he did with
00:09:30with Vladimir Putin. So I think Zelensky's
00:09:32Zelensky's moves today are in trying
00:09:34trying to rebuild that trust and and relationship to get the Americans
00:09:38Americans back onside. He also needs needs their military support, their
00:09:41their intelligence, their weapons weapons and their pressure on Russia Russia to try to do the right thing
00:09:45thing and abide by this cease fire
00:09:47fire if it is going to take effect
00:09:49effect and have a real impact. There There is that scepticism. There is
00:09:52is that doubt that it will work out. out. But perhaps there are at least
00:09:55least some benefits for the Ukrainians Ukrainians here. The key calculation calculation then is the Kremlin's.
00:09:59Kremlin's. What's more important important to them continuing to hit
00:10:02hit Ukraine's energy infrastructure infrastructure through the winter winter or preserving their own oil
00:10:06oil refineries? The Kremlin's playing playing its cards close to its chest.
00:10:09chest. Given very little response response to this so far, not unusual
00:10:12unusual for them to take that position. position. And it may well be it's
00:10:15it's entirely possible they try to
00:10:16to have it both ways. OK, Dan, thank
00:10:20thank you very much. We'll have much much more on the war in Ukraine coming
00:10:23coming up as The Security Brief goes
00:10:26goes live in front of a studio audience audience tonight. You can watch that
00:10:29that here on BBC News. You can also also watch it on the BBC iPlayer
00:10:33iPlayer and the BBC News YouTube
00:10:34YouTube channel. It's today at half
00:10:37half past 7pm UK time. Christine
00:10:39Christine and Mikey will have live
00:10:41live analysis and a panel of exciting exciting guests as well, so do tune
00:10:45tune in for that now let's take a a short break because the Iran war
00:10:48war today is coming up next, including including a special report from the
00:10:52the front line in Yemen, around the
00:10:54the world and across the UK. This This is The World Today on BBC
00:11:57Security Brief live with an audience
00:11:58audience here on BBC News. MUSIC
00:12:11MUSIC Hello, Hello, I'm Maryam Moshiri and this this is the Iran War today, bringing
00:12:15bringing you up to date with all all you need to know on the US-Israel
00:12:18US-Israel war with Iran. Well, let's let's start with some of today's
00:12:21today's key developments. Now Saudi
00:12:24Saudi officials say one person has has been killed and nearly a dozen
00:12:26dozen others injured in the latest latest attack on Riyadh's international
00:12:30international airport by the Iran Iran backed Houthi group in Yemen.
00:12:34Yemen. Flights across Saudi Arabia Arabia are being heavily disrupted.
00:12:37disrupted. Riyadh's international international airport has suspended suspended flights until Saturday
00:12:41Saturday after three deadly attacks attacks in recent days in Yemen,
00:12:45Yemen, fighting is reported to have have intensified around the city
00:12:48city of Taiz, which has been encircled encircled by Houthi forces. We have
00:12:52have a special report from inside
00:12:54inside Yemen. Oil prices remain volatile
00:12:58volatile at around $106 a barrel barrel as tensions rise following
00:13:01following the attacks on Saudi Arabia. Arabia. Fresh incidents in the Strait
00:13:04Strait of Hormuz have also heightened heightened fears of disruptions to
00:13:08to oil exports. Well, Yemen's Houthi
00:13:15Houthi rebels have renewed their their attacks against Saudi Arabia,
00:13:18Arabia, firing more drones and missiles missiles into the country. It comes
00:13:22comes after two deadly strikes on on Riyadh's main international airport
00:13:26airport in as many days. Well, Saudi
00:13:28Saudi officials say one person was
00:13:30was killed and 11 wounded in an attack attack on King Khalid International
00:13:34International Airport on Sunday, Sunday, just hours after another
00:13:37another Houthi claimed attack on on the airport killed 13 people and
00:13:41and left hundreds of others wounded. wounded. Well, this footage from
00:13:45from Saudi state TV shows the orange
00:13:47orange flash of the missile blast blast passengers waiting for their
00:13:50their flights managed to escape from
00:13:52from that blast, though our security security correspondent Frank Gardner
00:13:55Gardner will be here to discuss those
00:13:58those attacks on Saudi Arabia. But But first, let's discuss in detail
00:14:02detail what's happening right now
00:14:04now inside Yemen and indeed why the
00:14:06the war first began in 2014 when
00:14:09when Houthi fighters gained control
00:14:11control of the capital Sana'a. Since Since 2015, a Saudi led coalition
00:14:14coalition has been trying with heavy heavy air strikes to restore the
00:14:18the internationally recognised government government to power. In recent weeks,
00:14:21weeks, though, the Houthis have carried carried out a lightning advance catching
00:14:25catching off guard Saudi backed government government forces, they've swept
00:14:29swept along the west coast of the the country, taking control of the
00:14:32the Bab el Mandeb Strait. It's a
00:14:34a key maritime corridor. Well, since since then, government forces have
00:14:38have managed to retake some territory.
00:14:40territory. Our senior international international correspondent, Orla Orla Guerin, is in the capital, Aden
00:14:44Aden and has sent us this report report a warning it does contain
00:14:48contain distressing images. Crossing
00:14:52Crossing the desert, a remote battlefield
00:14:54battlefield in a civil war that is
00:14:56is fast becoming a major regional
00:14:59regional threat. We travelled with
00:15:03with Yemen's southern forces fighters fighters loyal to the internationally
00:15:07internationally recognised government. government. In this landscape of
00:15:10of harsh beauty, they have regained
00:15:13regained lost ground and took us
00:15:15us to see it here. The wreckage of
00:15:18of a Houthi drone shot out of the
00:15:21the sky. How much damage could this
00:15:24this have done? Commander Tawfik
00:15:26Tawfik Al Haugen says it contained
00:15:29contained explosives. And could kill
00:15:33kill 10 to 15 people. This whole
00:15:38whole area has just been retaken retaken by pro-government forces.
00:15:41forces. They captured it about three
00:15:44three days ago. Until then, the Houthis Houthis were in control here. They've
00:15:48They've been pushed back. And we've we've been told that there are Houthi
00:15:52Houthi fighters in position up in in the mountains. About 500 of them.
00:15:55them. And since we've been here, here, the forces are keeping an eye
00:15:58eye on the sky just to make sure
00:16:00sure that there are no more drones
00:16:03drones coming. And here, scenes from
00:16:06from the battle to retake this territory.
00:16:11territory. No military precision
00:16:13precision in this desert campaign.
00:16:16campaign. Just a loose alliance of of pro-government fighters. Some
00:16:19Some of them barefoot. As we left
00:16:25left front lines about a mile from
00:16:28from the Houthis government reinforcements
00:16:30reinforcements were heading in. Along
00:16:35Along the way, a tableau of suffering
00:16:38suffering for some of those who have
00:16:39have fled the fighting, the only
00:16:42only shelter is the trees. Aisha
00:16:45Aisha tells me she has been here
00:16:47here for 30 days with no money, no
00:16:51no food and no water. Not even a
00:16:55a blanket. Yemen's civil war is casting
00:16:57casting a shadow well beyond its
00:17:00its borders. The Houthis are a threat
00:17:03threat to international shipping shipping and increasingly a threat
00:17:06threat to Saudi Arabia. But for their
00:17:09their backers in Iran, they provide
00:17:13provide leverage in operating rooms
00:17:14rooms in the city of Aden, geopolitics
00:17:17geopolitics feels remote night and
00:17:19and day. Doctors are treating wounded
00:17:23wounded fighters. That includes the
00:17:25the enemy. This man is a Houthi,
00:17:28Houthi, but most here are from the
00:17:31the government side. When you get get a real sense here of how fierce
00:17:35fierce the fighting is, this hospital
00:17:38hospital alone has received 51 wounded
00:17:40wounded fighters today. Every bed bed in the intensive care unit is
00:17:44is full. They've been arriving with
00:17:46with gunshot wounds with shrapnel.
00:17:49shrapnel. Some have had limbs amputated amputated and the casualties keep
00:17:52keep coming. We've been told there
00:17:54there are three more on the way.
00:17:58way. The battles in Yemen are ebbing
00:18:00ebbing and flowing with no clear
00:18:03clear victor, but plenty more trauma.
00:18:06trauma. For some, the war will always
00:18:08always be with them. Some still have
00:18:11have their fighting spirit, like
00:18:14like Ahmed Ali Mahmoud. He wants
00:18:16wants to get back to the front. Despite
00:18:19Despite multiple fractures. I'm not
00:18:25not waiting to be fully recovered, recovered, he told us. I just want
00:18:28want to be able to stand. I think
00:18:30think it's a religious duty and a
00:18:33a national duty. The Houthis have have destroyed the country. Come
00:18:36Come on. In the next ward. Ali, who
00:18:41who is 121 year older than Yemen's
00:18:43Yemen's war. He was injured by a
00:18:46a drone and is now facing a complicated
00:18:49complicated surgery. There is shrapnel
00:18:52shrapnel near his spine, says Doctor
00:18:54Doctor Ammar Al-sakkaf. The operation operation won't be easy, but God
00:18:58God willing our staff will be able
00:19:00able to handle it. But will war follow
00:19:05follow Ali into adulthood? Well,
00:19:08Well, it is of course, extremely extremely difficult for journalists journalists to get access to Yemen,
00:19:11Yemen, but Orla Guerin has been allowed allowed in and joins us now from
00:19:14from the port city of Aden. And although although we have had warnings from
00:19:17from the UN about the humanitarian humanitarian situation, how serious
00:19:20serious is it becoming? The difficulty
00:19:24difficulty for Yemen, Marianne, is
00:19:25is that things were very bad even
00:19:28even before the latest upsurge in in fighting. Before that happened,
00:19:32happened, about 40% of the medical
00:19:35medical facilities in this country country were not functioning. There
00:19:38There was a longstanding problem problem of malnutrition, which has
00:19:41has very deep roots here since the
00:19:44the fighting last month, since everything
00:19:46everything worsened again, the figures figures are really, really stark
00:19:50stark that are coming from the UN.
00:19:51UN. They are warning that 3 in 4
00:19:544 families here are facing hunger.
00:19:58hunger. The 22 million people require require assistance. And if you look
00:20:00look at the position of children,
00:20:03children, it's even worse. The projections
00:20:06projections are that 2.2 million million children will suffer from
00:20:09from acute malnutrition this year
00:20:11year and that in 500,000 cases it
00:20:14it will be life threatening. Now Now we have seen some malnourished
00:20:17malnourished children here in the the hospitals in the last few weeks,
00:20:20weeks, and we have seen some that that were suffering from malnutrition
00:20:23malnutrition and are also casualties casualties of the war. So people
00:20:26people are dealing with trauma on
00:20:29on trauma here. How confident are
00:20:32are we all that the government forces forces you're with are able to beat
00:20:36beat back the Houthis so that they they can't affect vessels through
00:20:40through that key Bab al-Mandab Strait?
00:20:43Strait? I think it's very much an an open question still, Mariam. I
00:20:47I mean, we have seen the government government recover some ground. The
00:20:51The forces that we were with took
00:20:53took us to territory that had been
00:20:55been newly retaken, but we know there
00:20:57there is still fighting taking place place around the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
00:21:01Strait. And that is a key prize for for the Houthis. They will be very
00:21:05very slow to want to give it up. up. They poured forces into that
00:21:08that area. The government advance, advance, I have to say, has been
00:21:12been quite slow, but they are managing managing to take a little bit of
00:21:15of territory, pushing forward as as they go. They told us yesterday
00:21:19yesterday they believed that within within a day or so they would have
00:21:22have complete control of the area. area. But I think we have to take
00:21:25take that with some caution. There There have been claims and counterclaims
00:21:29counterclaims taking place between between the two sides. And let's
00:21:32let's remember the Houthis are now
00:21:35now a very experienced fighting force. force. What they have been able to
00:21:39to do striking the airport in Riyadh
00:21:41Riyadh in recent days, as shows you
00:21:44you just how skilled and well equipped equipped they are. If I can put it
00:21:47it in those terms. Orla, thank you.
00:21:52you. Well, let's return now to the the security situation in Saudi Arabia
00:21:56Arabia where flights are again being being heavily disrupted by the missiles
00:21:59missiles being fired towards the the country from Yemen. This next next footage is from an attack on
00:22:03on Saturday. In the pictures. Well, Well, they're quite graphic. 13 people
00:22:07people were killed in this strike
00:22:09strike when a missile hit King Khalid Khalid Airport International Airport
00:22:12Airport in Riyadh. Hundreds were were injured. Another person was
00:22:15was killed in an attack there on on Sunday. The international airport
00:22:18airport in Riyadh has suspended flights flights until next Saturday after
00:22:21after a total of three deadly attacks
00:22:23attacks in the past few days alone. alone. Well, as we're reporting,
00:22:26reporting, the Iranian backed Houthi Houthi say they're targeting Saudi
00:22:29Saudi Arabia because of its support support for government forces in
00:22:32in Yemen's civil war. Salman Al-Ansari Al-Ansari is a geopolitical analyst
00:22:36analyst in Riyadh. He said the response response of the Saudi led coalition
00:22:39coalition operating Yemen has to
00:22:40to be firm. A decisive all out confrontation
00:22:44confrontation is needed, including including treating the Iranian backed
00:22:47backed Houthis as a terrorist organisation organisation like Isis and Al-Qaeda.
00:22:50Al-Qaeda. With regards to the international international community. On top of of them is the United States. We
00:22:54We have seen how they have voiced
00:22:56voiced solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Arabia. So definitely we are right
00:22:59right now in a position where we
00:23:02we are rallying international support.
00:23:06support. Well, just how seriously seriously are these attacks on Saudi
00:23:09Saudi Arabia affecting the country's country's reputation? Here's Doctor Doctor Elisabeth Kendall, a Yemen
00:23:13Yemen and Middle East expert at the
00:23:15the University of Cambridge. Badly Badly it's going to affect Saudis
00:23:19Saudis reputation badly because this this is a time when Saudi is already
00:23:23already suffering economically from
00:23:25from a lot of pressure on its oil oil exports, its major source of
00:23:29of revenue. If you couple that with
00:23:31with its look ahead to vision 2030
00:23:342030 and economic diversification diversification via Red Sea tourism
00:23:38tourism via attracting foreign investment
00:23:42investment via expanding commerce commerce and business, all of that
00:23:45that relies on having reliable logistics
00:23:49logistics hubs like airports. Well, Well, let's dive a bit more deeply
00:23:51deeply into this with me as our security security correspondent, Frank Gardner Gardner and Frank, Saudi Arabia's
00:23:55Arabia's energy minister saying there's there's going to be a serious response
00:23:58response to these attacks. But why why is it that Saudi Arabia seemingly
00:24:01seemingly can't defend itself against against this Houthi threat? Saudi
00:24:05Saudi Arabia has spent seven years years trying to bomb the Houthis
00:24:08Houthis into submission from 2015
00:24:112015 to 2022, and they failed. There
00:24:14There is a clear parallel here between between what's gone on in the Strait
00:24:17Strait of Hormuz, where the United United States, by far the biggest
00:24:21biggest military power versus Iran
00:24:24Iran is matched by Saudi Arabia by
00:24:28by far the bigger power versus Yemen's
00:24:30Yemen's Houthis. And yet in both
00:24:32both the case of Iran and Yemen's
00:24:35Yemen's Houthis, they have played played a weak hand extraordinarily
00:24:38extraordinarily well. They have both
00:24:40both become experts in asymmetric
00:24:43asymmetric warfare in fighting back back in ways that their adversary adversary didn't expect. So the answer
00:24:47answer to your question, I think, think, is that it's several reasons. reasons. Saudi Arabia is a big country.
00:24:51country. You've got an awful lot lot of targets there, and the Saudis Saudis can't protect everything.
00:24:55everything. They have spent billions.
00:24:56billions. I mean, to be precise,
00:25:01precise, $83,000,000,083.2 billion billion last year on defence. That's
00:25:04That's a massive defence budget, budget, the eighth biggest in the the world at the time. And of course
00:25:08course it's prompting plenty of Saudis Saudis to think hang on a minute,
00:25:11minute, we've spent all this money
00:25:13money on glitzy planes and missiles
00:25:16missiles and all this defence. Why Why is it that the Houthis are able
00:25:19able to bomb our main airport with
00:25:22with impunity? And I think questions questions will be asked as to why
00:25:25why there was no early warning about about that. But the Houthis have
00:25:29have got they've had a big helping helping hand from Iran's Islamic
00:25:33Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Corps. The Quds Force, part of the
00:25:37the IRGC who've trained them in precision
00:25:40precision targeting. Initially, Iran Iran provided the Houthis with a
00:25:43a lot of missiles and drones. The The Houthis now produce their own
00:25:45own and they store it underground underground in caves, in labyrinths,
00:25:49labyrinths, in tunnels. And the Saudis Saudis can't bomb all of it. And
00:25:53And let's talk a little bit more more about those front lines in Yemen
00:25:55Yemen that we saw there and always always reporting. How is it that
00:25:59that he's been so effective at taking taking ground, you know, such big
00:26:03big swathes of territory? How have have they been able to do that? So
00:26:06So first of all, back in 2014, they
00:26:08they took advantage of the chaos chaos in the aftermath of the Arab
00:26:12Arab Spring. Do you remember there there was you know, it's a dirty dirty word now in the Arab world,
00:26:15world, Arab Spring, they call it
00:26:16it the Arab Winter. Al Arabiya but
00:26:20but the meaning the Arab winter.
00:26:23winter. But in 2014 they advanced advanced down, took the Saudi capital, capital, Sana'a, almost without a
00:26:27a shot. And then they had the backing backing of the ousted president,
00:26:30president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Republican Republican guard. And then they got
00:26:33got the Iranians in to help them. them. Actually, the Iranians had had been helping them for a while,
00:26:37while, but they've had a lot of technical technical help, even from Hezbollah
00:26:40Hezbollah as well. So they've become
00:26:43become a formidable force, which, which, as I say, the Saudis failed
00:26:46failed to dislodge them. And now
00:26:49now where they're fighting in the the mountains, the Houthis have the
00:26:52the upper hand. They are mountain mountain people from a part of Yemen
00:26:55Yemen in the far north called Saada.
00:26:57Saada. It's a city not that far from from the Saudi border. And on land,
00:27:01land, the Saudis and their allies, allies, the sort of various different
00:27:05different coalition factions loyal loyal to the previous Yemeni government government have not really been able
00:27:09able to dislodge them. Where the
00:27:11the Houthis are vulnerable is on
00:27:14on the coastal plain known as the the Tihama on the Red Sea coast because
00:27:18because there it's flat with lots lots of open terrain and they are
00:27:21are very vulnerable to Saudi bombing
00:27:23bombing from the air. The Houthis
00:27:27Houthis took advantage of chaos a
00:27:29a few weeks ago to make a sudden sudden lightning rapid advance down
00:27:32down that Red Sea coast, taking the the towns of Al Mokha and the Bab
00:27:36Bab all the way down to Perim Island Island and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
00:27:40Strait. They've been pushed back back from some of it, but not all
00:27:43all of it. And they were able to
00:27:45to do that because they had advice advice and instruction from Iran's
00:27:49Iran's Revolutionary Guards. OK, OK, Frank, thank you very much indeed.
00:27:53indeed. Whether you're joining us us on YouTube, TikTok, sounds Radio
00:27:56Radio or TV, thank you for your time.
00:27:58time. We're back soon with another
00:28:00another Iran war today.