The spread of war involving Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran
- What to look for
- Useful for viewers seeking to understand how escalation of the Iran war affects living costs through oil prices, freight rates and heating bills, and to compare Western narratives about the Yemen war with alternative interpretations.
- Why it matters
- You can learn about Yemen's two-government structure and the origins of Ansar Allah, the share of global oil supply accounted for by the 3 chokepoints of Bab el-Mandeb, Hormuz and Suez, and how the Yemen war has unfolded since 2015.
AI summary
Host Ben Norton says the United States' war against Iran is escalating into a regional conflict with Saudi Arabia's resumption of the Yemen war, and that Pakistan, Türkiye and Syria have joined the Saudi side. He argues that Ansar Allah (the Houthis), which governs 80% of Yemen's population, is Iran's ally, not its proxy, that it took control of Sanaa through the 2014 revolution, and that the internationally recognized government in the south is a Saudi puppet. He explains that the objectives of launching the war are to seize control of all of Yemen, oust Iran's ally and control the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and that the largest oil supply crisis in history is unfolding, combining Hormuz's 20%, Bab el-Mandeb's 8% and Suez's 9%. He emphasizes the chronology: Saudi Arabia first resumed the war in July (7) with US approval, and Ansar Allah responded by blockading the Red Sea. He presents oil prices exceeding 100 dollars, daily tanker rates of 130 units of ten thousand dollars, and an 80% rise in US heating oil prices as consequences of the war. Citing the failure of 2025's 50 days of direct US bombing and the 11-year history of war since 2015, he says this escalation could instead help Ansar Allah. All outlooks concerning the direction of future developments are the speaker's conditional judgments, not definitive short-term price predictions.