Could tension in Gulf escalate into an open conflict?
Houthi rebels attack Saudi oil facilities over ‘aggression’ in Yemen as Middle East tensions continue to rise.
In the second attack in less than 48 hours, two of Saudi Arabia‘s oil pumping stations were targeted in a series of drone attacks west of the capital Riyadh.
Houthi rebels said they carried out the attacks to warn the kingdom against what they described as its “aggression” in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s state-owned energy company Aramco has since stopped pumping oil through a major pipeline.
The incidents came after two Saudi oil tankers were damaged in a mysterious attack on Sunday off the coast of the Emirate of Fujairah.
The UAE government also said four ships were targeted off its coast.
What’s really behind these series of attacks?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Nasser Arrabyee – Yemeni journalist and filmmaker
Trita Parsi – Professor of Middle East Politics at Georgetown University and author of Losing an Enemy- Obama, Iran and the triumph of Diplomacy
Samuel Ramani – Univeristy of Oxford PhD candidate, regular contributor for the Diplomat and Washington Post