Analyst says Houthis joining war in Middle East marks 'inflection point'

Video Description

(30 Mar 2026) RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY: ++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++ ASSOCIATED PRESS London - 29 March 2026 ++STARTS AND ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++ 1. SOUNDBITE (English) Nomi Bar-Yaacov, Expert on the Middle East and a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy: "I think we're at an inflection point. I think with the Houthis joining, they sat very, very patiently for almost a month before joining the fray. And now that they have joined, they have join full speed, full on. One ballistic missile was fired at Israel yesterday. Another one was fired in Israel today. And they are vowing to continuing to fight. So, this is the... Very very significant and dangerous moment." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nomi Bar-Yaacov, Expert on the Middle East and a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy: "So diplomacy at the moment is working very hard behind the scenes to try to ensure that at this point of infliction, things don't get completely out of control. May I add, it's not only that the Houthis have joined, the U.S. President has deployed special forces and marines, in other words, ground troops to... Iran and that, again, is extremely, extremely worrying given that if there were to be a ground invasion, either for the occupation of Kharg Island or for the areas around the Straits of Hormuz, or to try to take out the enriched uranium up to 60%, all of the above or one of the above is a game-changer." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Nomi Bar-Yaacov, Expert on the Middle East and a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy: "The Houthis pose a very serious military threat. They have very sophisticated ballistic missiles. They have a very sophisticated drones. They are able to disrupt the shipping routes in the Red Sea in Bab el-Mandeb, and they can reach the Gulf States, of course, but Israel. They hit Israel with a ballistic missile yesterday and another one today, and they have vowed to continue. So the military threat is very serious and that of course comes on top of the Iranian threat, the Hezbollah threat in Lebanon, coming from Lebanon and was going on, you know, in other areas with Israeli occupation and military actions in Syria, Gaza and the West Bank." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nomi Bar-Yaacov, Expert on the Middle East and a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy: "I think the world economy is at a crisis point, and I don't think that the world can recover easily. So, with the Houthis controlling and potentially preventing oil from moving in the Red Sea, we are at a point where we have not been before - with both the Straits of Hormuz effectively closed and with the strait in the Red Sea about to be closed. So. All eyes are on the mediation, but the oil crisis is, I think, an unprecedented state." ++BLACK FRAMES++ 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nomi Bar-Yaacov, Expert on the Middle East and a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy: "Yeah. I think it's important to remember Shaykh Yamani, the oil minister's warning. In 1973, he said very clearly that oil is a much more effective weapon than all the armory of the U.S. put together." ++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++ STORYLINE: A analyst said Sunday that Yemen's Houthis joining the war in the Middle East is "very, very significant" along with U.S. President Donald Trump sending more troops to Iran. Expert on the Middle East and a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy Nomi Bar-Yaacov said it is a "dangerous time" during the oil crisis given the status of the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1041666d18cb4b1b8e0a10725d0bbf9d