Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
WATCH: Why the U.S., Saudis are so concerned about the Houthis
Posted
August 1, 2026
Views
4,864
Likes
137
Engagement
2.82%
August 1, 2026
4,864
137
2.82%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
1:05Now PlayingThe war in Iran entered its sixth month and expanded to new fronts this week.
The Iran-backed Houthis have been holding their fire for months, but now they're firing at ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea.
Compass Points host Nick Schifrin asked Yemeni researcher Mohammed Al-Basha about the Houthi rebels and why the United States and Saudis are concerned about the group.
"You have an Iranian-led axis of resistance path, and then you have the Saudi Houthi path, and they both are now seen to have aligned, and that's why we're seeing the escalation timed right now," Al-Basha said.
Saudi Arabia met with representatives from 43 countries on Thursday to form a maritime defense coalition to protect key shipping routes in the Red Sea.
Compass Points from PBS News analyzes prominent international affairs topics and America’s role in a shifting world, breaking down global conflicts, rising tensions, and their implications for U.S. interests. Visit the PBS News website to watch this week's episode.
Sign up for Here's The Deal with Lisa Desjardins
Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters
PBS News podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app
Find more from PBS News at
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
