what do you make of their comments now? i think the civil war in yemen was so disastrous with the saudi involvement and by the way backed up by u.s. technology well over 100,000 people killed. it was a humanitarian crisis of immense saudis have backed out of that and trying to maintain the peace. so understandable that the saudis will not welcome any of this. but at the same time, look, most of the world s traffic in oil comes out of the persian gulf or the red sea. the economic consequences of a couple of thousand ships already having been diverted, you know, 4,000 additional miles, 10 to 14 days of transit, already affecting global prices. so if iran is looking for a fight, it will come. there is no way the global economy can tolerate turning off
what s the reaction in the region? reporter: there is concern in saudi arabia at the uae because they backed illegitimate internationally recognize government of yemen since the houthis forced them from power back in 2014, which led to the uae and saudis supporting yemeni government troops on the ground inside of yemen, and led to the houthis firing iranian-made cruise missiles at the capital of saudi arabia and drones at targets in the uae. these countries are very alive to the threat, the possibility of escalation. they both stress the importance of these vital international waterways, the red sea, of course, saudi arabia has many ports on the red sea. it is a very important and vital economic link for saudi arabia. we ve heard from jordan and kuwait as well expressing their concern about what they see as an escalation. egypt also concerned about what
they see as an escalation. iran, for its part, and some of its proxies, hamas, hezbollah, have come out very clearly in support of the houthis, no surprise there because the houthis are a proxy of iran. but their comments very clearly frame this as a u.s. uk attack, and not on the houthis, military capabilities, but on the whole of yemen which of course, that is not the intention that they are framing it like that. they are framing it in a way that the united states and the uk are coming out in support of israel. and the rhetoric is really designed to inflame tensions at the moment. it is a moment of great concern. the british, of course, for all the reasons natasha mentioned, their ships, hms diamond, it was targeted earlier this week. it is easy for the prime minister to convince his cabinet, opposition figures, and that this was the right
is a bit of could keep doing it. i think there is a bit of diplomacy to be done here is is a bit of diplomacy to be done here is that ironically, the saudis are in here is that ironically, the saudis are in the middle of a ceasefire with are in the middle of a ceasefire with the houthis, having been involved in a civil war in yemen, they involved in a civil war in yemen, they are engaged in a ceasefire. they they are engaged in a ceasefire. they have also got. trying to have some progress with iran. the egyptians and saudis might have some influence on iran but it depends how far they want to take this. | far they want to take this. i think that is the far they want to take this. i think that is the key point, far they want to take this. i think that is the key point, is - far they want to take this. i think that is the key point, is iran - that is the key point, is iran really does have the power to speak to the houthis and to say to them when they think the time is right to
would be a response from western forces and that does feel imminent, but as i say, nothing officially from the pentagon or indeed for the national security adviser, john kirby, at the white house tonight. just to remind our audience, tom, the houthis are not a state actor and they have been involved in the civil war in yemen, which is a little quieter at the moment, but saying to frank gardner in the last hour, they are no mugs because they have put up fairly stiff resistance to saudi arabia in recent years. one of the people i was speaking to last week said the americans have been loath to craft them too quickly because these peace negotiations are ongoing and nobody wants to open up that saw in yemen. if they go in there all guns blazing, could further destabilise yemen in a way that would upset the region? weill. further destabilise yemen in a way that would upset the region? well, i think it could that would upset the region? well, i think it could and that would upset the regi