00:00Well, for more on this, I'm joined now in the studio by our international affairs editor,
00:03Ketavan Khorjastani. Hi, Ketavan. The Houthis, the latest entity to join this conflict one
00:09month after the start of the war. Why now and just how significant is this development?
00:14Well, look, first of all, there's the sort of symbolic moment of one month of war that
00:21we can put into the reasoning behind getting into it right now. But the reason why we were
00:27wondering why the Houthis haven't gone in before is because we saw the likes of Hezbollah,
00:33for example, get involved much quicker. And there is sort of this general idea that we talk about
00:39Iran's proxies and we include the Houthis along the likes of Hezbollah and Hamas, but they're not
00:46exactly the same type of Iran-aligned group than Hezbollah or Hamas. Yes, they do get funding,
00:57they do get weapons training from Iran. Yes, they are aligned generally politically and ideologically
01:03with the Iranians, but they're a little bit more detached, more independent, if you will,
01:09than a group like Hezbollah. They don't necessarily, the Houthis, take direction as quickly and as
01:19directly from the likes of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Supreme Leader, the way Hezbollah
01:27is in very direct coordination with the Iranians. So that could explain why the Houthis decided to
01:34come into the game, if you will, at a time of their choosing. The other thing is that their entry
01:41into
01:41this war could be coming in at a time where it causes maximum disruption. First of all, when it
01:48comes to Israel, Israel is already fighting two fronts, Iran, of course, but also Lebanon. And now
01:55the Houthis are opening a third front while the Israelis are already fighting on two. And the most
02:02important part could be coming up in the next days or weeks. The fact that when you see the closure
02:11of
02:11the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranians, that means that shipping lanes, oil trade, global trade is being
02:18heavily disrupted. And part of that is being diverted to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which is a
02:25strait that is on the coast of Yemen, as we see there on that map. It leads to the Red
02:31Sea, which leads to
02:32the Suez Canal, which leads to the Mediterranean. And that could be something that the Houthis start
02:39targeting the way they did start targeting that after the October 7th, 2023 attacks. And if they jump into
02:47that strait, that would be two very critical straits blocked at the same time. And that could be dramatic
02:53for a global trade. Meanwhile, Ketavan, Iran does continue to fire missiles and drones at Israel,
03:02also Gulf nations, of course, that despite the US insisting still that they've crippled Iran's
03:08military capabilities. Absolutely. And the latest US media reporting on those US troops that were
03:15injured in that strike on a base, Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on Friday, too seriously
03:23injured. That Saudi air base, apparently, according to US media reports, had already been struck
03:31earlier in the week, they're now reporting. They were struck, it seems, by missiles and drones. And
03:40not only were there personnel injuries, but also there were at least two refueling aircraft that were
03:48damaged in those strikes. Over the past month, four US troops, you have had 13 US troops who have died
03:57in this war, seven as the result of hostile fires, six in a plane crash. And the Pentagon tally now
04:05of
04:06injured troops is more than 300. Most of these troops have since returned to duty with very light injuries,
04:14but at least 10 of them remain seriously hurt. And that is a problem, of course, for the US president.
04:20But what these strikes really do show is that despite the relentless strikes by the US army,
04:28by the Israeli army, despite the repeated comments by the US, by the Israelis, that they've decimated
04:34Iran's military capabilities, Iran still has a sizable arsenal. Iran still is able to strike all across
04:42the Middle East. It can still target Gulf states, still target US interests, still target Israel.
04:48And so far, they are not stopping, despite what the US and the Israelis are saying.
04:53Getaban, Gordesani, thank you very much.
04:55Thanks.
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