tehran, hassan ahmadian. thank you forjoining us. we saw huge rallies in the yemeni capital yesterday after the us uk s strikes, what is the level of support for houthi notjust in yemen but in iran and the wider region? and the wider region? well, i think that these attacks and the wider region? well, i think that these attacks actually - and the wider region? well, i think that these attacks actually helped l that these attacks actually helped them in rally support and basically this has the rally around the flag for yemenis and also their popularity has gone up because of what they say is targeted at israel when it is waging a war on the gazans and besieging them. the houthis are saying. and this is
in other attacks, they used drones and missiles. they say they are disrupting this key shipping route to show their support for palestinians in gaza. yemen sits at a key strategic position in the middle east, especially for global shipping. the normal route from the far east goes around the coast of yemen, through the red sea and the suez canal. it has been significantly disrupted. most vessels are now taking the longer route around southern africa. it means delay and extra cost to global commerce. a huge rally in the yemeni capital, sana a. protesters burned the american and israeli flags. millions in yemen and across the arab world are appalled by israel s conduct of the war in gaza, and they see the current air strikes by the west as an escalation. a houthi military spokesman said british and american criminal
about the location that has been hit, but reports from yemen suggest that the capital sana a was hit. this was a much more targeted operation. but again, it shows that the americans are still going ahead with those strikes. and we heard from an official, a houthi official yesterday who promised a very harsh and painful response and said american and british citizens will be feeling that response. so far, the actions that we ve seen from the houthis have been muted. a missile that was fired yesterday by the houthis didn t hit anything, according to the pentagon. but i think the expectation from american officials is that the houthis are going to try to respond to these attacks. for more analysis on the impact of these strikes, i m joined now by professor of middle east studies at the university of
the contrary, that they have been attacking ships going to israel and coming from israel, another ship was hit, according to their claims. and i think this brings the two issues very much close together, and to separate them, you need to have more than words to basically tell that we re doing this separate from israel. if that is actually playing into many people or officials here and also in the regions narrative that well, when it comes to israel and the war, it is war on gaza, the united states is supporting the violation of international law, but when it comes to yemen, it is moving against what it sees as a violation of international law, which is a double standard, a hypocrisy, you name it. and this narrative is very
the houthis have already endured nearly eight years of air strikes as saudi arabia, armed with western weapons, sought to reverse their takeover and restore the legitimate government. it failed. the houthis are in firm control of most of the populated parts of yemen. that s the purple bits here, including the capital sana a, and crucially, most of the red sea coast. and they re backed by iran, which trains them, arms them, and provides them with intelligence, which it denies. this has enabled the houthis to build up a powerful arsenal of drones and missiles. now, the houthis have effectively entered the gaza war on the side of hamas. they ve demanded a ceasefire and they say they re targeting any ship linked to israel, but they ve also attacked plenty of vessels that aren t. the capabilities the iranians have provided the houthis have included cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and also the capability to manufacture home grown uavs, drones,