Latest / The Front / Mossad tried to wipe out the Houthis. They’re back with a vengeance

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Mossad tried to wipe out the Houthis. They’re back with a vengeance · The Front

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, July twenty two, twenty twenty sixth. The Australian's
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: revealing today one of Australia's most infamous Islamic state fighters,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: a doctor named Tarek Kumla, is still alive in an
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Iraqi jail. His own family believed Kumla had died in
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Ruca in twenty seventeen. The US Coast Guard is about
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: to set sail in Pacific waters, with the Solomon Islands
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: government revealing it's signing a deal with the Trump administration
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: to cooperate with local police on border security. That's as
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: new Prime Minister Matthew Wila pledges to unravel the Solomon's
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: security pact with China. Feared Israeli spy agency Mossad tried
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: to wipe out the Hoofies in twenty twenty five, but
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: this band of fiercely anti Semitic, anti American sheerite rebels
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: who are funded by Iran are very hard to kill.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: They've just reinserted themselves in the Middle East conflict, declaring
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and raising fears the
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  Speaker 1: world's oil and shipping supplies are about to get choked
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: up all over again. So what now. Cameron Stewart is
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: here in just a moment. Cameron Stewart is the Australian's
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: chief international correspondent, and he's joining me to talk about
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: one of the world's most interesting waterways. It's not the
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Strait of horn Wares in the Persian Gulf, which is
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: the one that's attracted all the attention recently. It's on
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  Speaker 1: the other side of the Arabian Peninsula and it's the
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  Speaker 1: Red Sea. Cam What is happening in the Red Sea
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  Speaker 1: and why do we need to know a bit more
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  Speaker 1: about it?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Claire, as you say, everyone's been focusing on the
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Australia formors, where twenty percent of the world's oil transits
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: each day. I used to until the US around conflict. However,
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  Speaker 2: the Red Sea further south is incredibly important as well.
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  Speaker 2: Seven percent of the world's oil is transited through the
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Red Sea. Now the strata for muss currently gummed up
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: because of Iran closing it and the ongoing conflict there,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: the Red Sea becomes much more important. And what we've
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: had now is the Houthi rebels, who control the northern
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: part of Yemen right next to one of the most
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  Speaker 2: narrow straits in the Red Sea, have declared that they
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: will block a that in relation to Saudi Arabian oil
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  Speaker 2: tankers coming through. So that's a very serious development. Especially
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: it's a development which would be serious on its own, clear,
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  Speaker 2: it's now compounded because of the closure of the Stradaphilm
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: was the Melictry spokesperson for the WHO Ties made the
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: announcement based on the equation of an eye for an eye.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: The group also warned that any further escalation by Saudi
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Arabia would be met with a broader response. This was,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: in a way, a way to get around what Saudi
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Arabia had put together as a solution, isn't it. Saudi
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Arabia had started looking at very closely expanding what they
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: were already doing in piping oil across the peninsula and
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: getting it out of there via the Red Sea, rather
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: than having to rely on that stratiform was that Iran
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: has taken over? Does that mean Saudi Arabia has to
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: recalculate everything now.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Well, it does if the hooth is actually followed through
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: with this threat. Absolutely it does. As you say, Saudi
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  Speaker 2: Arabia when the stratifilms was closed, redirected seventy percent of
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: their oil to come down and go out through the
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Red Sea. Now, of course, the Houthis are Iranian aligned,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: and so Iran is putting pressure on the Hooths to
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: be more aggressive in the region. And Iran, what's the
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: closure of the strata film was to be very effective
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: in causing chaos and global energy markets because it gives
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: them more leverage negotiations. So they're now leaning on the
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: Hootheys to be more aggressive in their own outlooks. So
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: you've really got a fascinating situation where a proxy of
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Iran is stepping up its actions at the direction of
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Tehran to try and cause more grief and to strengthen
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Iran's bigger hand in negotiations with America.
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  Speaker 3: Despite Pakistan, which is the leading mediator in the Iran
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: US war, urging both sides to halt current hostilities and
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: return to negotiations. Iran's top negotiator, Mohammed Baga Galibaf, has
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: warned that a deal only has meaning when its clauses
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: are valid and being implemented.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: We talk a lot about Iranian proxies cam the hoofi
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Is in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
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  Speaker 1: What does it mean to be a proxy of Iran
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  Speaker 1: and what does it mean now that Iran is quite
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: seriously degraded.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Well, the proxies have still been very loyal to Iran.
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  Speaker 2: I mean Iran has been degraded, Claire absolutely, its ability
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: to help Hesboala in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Houthis in Yemen has been greatly decreased because of this conflict,
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  Speaker 2: and also the lapse of Syria has made it more
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: difficult for them to help the original proxies as well,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: but they still can. They still have links to these proxies.
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  Speaker 2: A group of hoothy rebels flew into Iran to get
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: briefings from Iran, then they flew back to Yemen. And
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: in fact that's how this latest crisis actually happened because
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: Yemen is split in half between the Houthi rebels and
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: the internationally recognized government which is backed by Saudi Arabia,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: and those two forces fought the civil war from about
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: twenty fourteen, a very brutal civil war.
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  Speaker 4: For more than seventy years now, Yemen's been torn by conflict.
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  Speaker 4: Yemen was already one of the poorest countries in the
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  Speaker 4: Middle East before the war broke out. Now it's suffering
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
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  Speaker 2: And in twenty twenty two there was a sort of
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  Speaker 2: informal peace, if you like, and so the country is
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: effectively split into but the tensions between those two forces
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  Speaker 2: are absolutely still there. And what happened in this situation
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  Speaker 2: was that the Saudi Arabian side of the government did
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: not like the fact that the Hoothis had gone to
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: Iran and that they were testing their control of the airspace,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: and so they fired upon that plane. And the Hoofs
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: have used this as an excuse, if you like, to say, Okay,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to get back at Saudi Arabian now we're
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: going to blockade their ships coming through the Gulf. So,
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  Speaker 2: if you like, it's a domestic extension of the civil
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: war which has caused this situation. But there is the
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: overlay that Iran of course wants to order the Hoofs
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: to be more aggressive for its own reasons.
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  Speaker 1: There's such an interesting group the hoof Is, aren't they
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  Speaker 1: they're kind of a cross between pirates and rebels within
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Yemen itself. Tell us what you know about the Hoofies
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  Speaker 1: cam and what their motivation is.
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  Speaker 2: Look, the Hoofi's motivation is they felt that they were
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: basically neglected by the government in Yemen. They thought that
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: they were being discriminated against as a group. The northern
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: part of Yemen Claire is very mountainous and it's it's
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: terrain for a rebel group, for a gorilla group, if
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: you like. And with their faith, they align themselves with Iran.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: Aram is more than happy to cause trouble in the
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: region as they have with Hezbollah and Hamas and sponsor
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: the hooth Is. And so the hooth Is interesting because
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: what they did was when October seven happened, the terrible
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: massacre of Israelis by Hamas and Israel attacked Gaza, the
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: hooth Is started attacking Israel in sympathy with the Palestinians.
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  Speaker 2: So that was the position that the Hoothis took. And
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: when the cease fire occurred in Gaza, the hooth he
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: stopped firing. But what happened was then when the US
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: declared war on Iran, the hoose He said we're going
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: to help Iran. We're going to fire on Israel in sympathy. Now,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: the fact is they have done that occasionally, but not
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: that much. The Houthi Iss have not really heavily been
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: involved in this war. And that's what makes this development
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: especially interesting because it really potentially put the Hoofies front
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: and center if they're going to blockade those vital oil
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: tankers coming through the Red Sea.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: Let's track it back to when the war was raging
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: between Israel and Hamas. The Hoofies were causing absolute mayhem
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: by really threatening to blow up any ship that tried
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  Speaker 1: to get through the Red Sea. Then Mossad masterminded this
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  Speaker 1: quite audacious attack on the Hoofies in their kind of
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  Speaker 1: stronghold of Sennar, and several senior Hoothi leaders were meeting
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  Speaker 1: and Mossad blew them all up. It was quite remarkable.
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  Speaker 5: Now, the Israeli Air Force conducted a targeted strike in Yemen,
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  Speaker 5: reportedly aiming to eliminate the military and political leadership of
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: the Iran Battouthies. The operation, described by Hebrew media as
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: Israel's most dramatic strike in Yemen yet, was first reported
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  Speaker 5: by Huthi ran almost.
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  Speaker 1: And it was hailed as this massive intelligence coup for Israel.
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  Speaker 1: So what do we think now, did that have less
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: of an impact than we'd thought at the time, or
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: have the hooth he has just been kind of regrouping
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  Speaker 1: and managed to pull themselves back together.
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  Speaker 2: Well, probably a bit of both. In fact, that was
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: a huge intelligence coup and that really stopped the Hoothis
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  Speaker 2: in their tracks. They were much more cautious after that
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  Speaker 2: in their behavior. As well as that. The Americans had
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: a very very big missile campaign against the Houthis at
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: the time, and then the Americans struck an unusual idea
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  Speaker 2: which whereby the Americans would stop attacking the Hoothies if
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: the Houthy stopped attacking any American ships in the Red Sea.
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  Speaker 2: So we've had all of those things happened. The Houthis
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: have been relatively quite compared to that time during the
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Gaza conflict, when as you say, they were blockading a
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: lot of ships through the Red Sea. Nine lives were lost,
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: some ships were lost. You know, it was a very
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: serious situation. And now we're looking at the possible resumption
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: of that again and it just becomes so much more important.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: This passage of water with the Strait of Hum was
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: closed because you just have to look at a map
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: and they are the two passageways of water where you
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: get oil out of the Middle East.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Where do those golf states turn? Now? When Iran started
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: attacking them in the recent months since the start of
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Operation Epic Fury, Iran was saying, we're not really attacking
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: our golf neighbors, We're attacking US assets in the region.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: And you know, they shouldn't be hosting the United States.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: Most of them do, though, most of them have some
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: kind of US military base or military assets on that
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Persian golf piece of territory. So what do they do.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Do they stick with America or go closer towards Israel
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: or do they change their religions all together and try
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: to buckle under Iran.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Well, they're absolutely the meat and the sandwich, is you say.
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  Speaker 2: I think there's two answers to that. In short term. Certainly,
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  Speaker 2: they cannot drift away from America if you like. I mean,
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: they have US bases, military bases on their soil. They
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: have big investment deals with America. They can't just walk
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: away from America. They obviously be very annoyed with Iran
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: because Iran is the one attacking them. But you know,
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: these countries are in there a difficult position, clear because
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: what the Iranians are doing at the moment is the
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Uranians claim or we're just attacking these countries because they
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: have US troops on their soil, but in fact they're
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: actually attacking also the infrastructure of these countries and really
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: important infrastructure like power bases and water supply to salve
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: a nation, plants, et cetera. And that can cause real
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: heartache and misery in these golf countries if Iran keeps
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: doing that. So these countries are in a very difficult
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: position here. They can't back away from the US politically,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: but they are being pummeled by Iran, and if Ram
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: wants to keep continuing this, it will really raise the tension.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: What Iran wants to have happened is exactly what you're saying.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: They want these golf states to really pressure Donald Trump
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: and say, come on, mate, we've had enough. You just
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: can't keep doing this. That's what they want. I don't
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: think they'll get that, but we're getting to an inflection
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: point where these golf states really are suffering and the
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: price they're paying is a very big one, and they
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: might even get to a point at one point where
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: they actually try and sign a non aggression pack with
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Iran to simply just try and stop the whole thing.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: Coming up. So what's the endgame for the Hoofies and
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: for Iran? What the Hoofees say is that they want
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: death to Israel, death to America. That's their slogan. But
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: what they're really fighting for is total control of Yemen.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: One option for Iran would be to throw all its
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: resources at the Hoofies to fund them to take over Yemen,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: conquer the government there, and make Yemen a stronghold of
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Shia Islam. Why hasn't Iran done that? I mean they do.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: They prefer to have the Hoofies just as the kind
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: of proxy force who they use when it suits them.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: I don't think militarily that Houths were able to take
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: over the country. I mean, Saudi Arabia was backing heavily,
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: backing the recognized government there, and they just couldn't make
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: military headway there. And that's when Iran was relatively fit
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: and healthy and financially solve them if you like. I
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: really think Iran now is so much weakened that while
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: they can still help the Hoothies, they're certainly not going
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: to be to help them to the point where they're
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: going to be able to take over the country. I
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: think they would just be a part during now the
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: Uranians and that the hoof is to be honest, What.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: About for Australians. Can we're all used to the fact
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: that petrol prices are closely connected to what's happening in
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: the Middle East. Even though we're buying more of it
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: from Asian sources, it all seems to come from the
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: same place basically, and much of it has to go
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: through these narrow waterways. What difference will it make if
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: shipping in the Red Sea is now disrupted again as
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: it was back in twenty twenty four.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: If it's disrupted, it will simply cost you more to
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: fill up ther car in Australia. It's as simple as that.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: So is the respite over for oil prices. Crude is
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: at its highest in a month as attacks on shipping
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: sea traffic in austraight to fore moves all but grind
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: to a halt.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, we'd be talking about twenty seven percent of
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: the world's oil being clogged up through the strata for
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: mouss being closed, and also the Red Sea passageways been closed,
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: if indeed that did happen, I mean, I think you fine,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: there's a fair way to go before the Red Sea
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: is closed, because obviously the Allies would do a lot
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: to trunk keep that passage open. In fact, you might
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: recall the US actually asked Australia to send a warship
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: to the Red Sea during the height of those attacks
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: either hoof he's on the shipping during the actual Gaza conflict.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Australia said no, we're not going to do it. It
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: didn't join that coalition if you like. But I think
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: that's what you'd see. That would be the next step.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: If the hooth Is really start to attack shipping in
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: the Red Seed beyond just the Saudi Arabians, which is
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: at this minute what Hoothis are saying they'll do, then
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: that could lead to a coalition of Western forces. True
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: that passageway open, because it just becomes so much more
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: important with the Strati Fian moss being closed.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Would Australia be invited to join again? And do we
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: actually have the capacity to send a warship.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I think we might be invited again, but probably I
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: think the Australian government was very embarrassed by the revelation
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: in The Australian that in fact the Americans had asked
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: for that warship, and they spent a long time cycling
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: backwards and trying to explain that their focus of attention
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: is on the Indo Pacific region. But I think the
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: fact was clear. They didn't actually have a ship ready
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: and get it out to center the reg city, so
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure they'd be able to send it so
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: the Red Sea again if they were asked again.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: Well, the stories keep coming, Thank you very much, Cam Pleasure.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Cameron Stewart is the Australian's chief international correspondent. You can
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: read all the latest from the Middle East and around
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: the world right now at the Australian dot com dou