David Miliband on the Attack on Saudi Oil Installations

JUST GIVE US A LAYOUT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE GROUND.

WHAT THIS WAR IS DOING TO THE PEOPLE THERE.

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE HAS ABOUT 600 STAFF IN YEMEN, IN THE NORTHERN PART, WHICH IS CONTROLLED BY THE HOUTHI REBEL ALLIANCE, AND THE SOUTH, WHERE THERE ARE REMNANTS OF THE HADDI GOVERNMENT AND A RANGE OF OTHER FORCES WHO ARE IN CONTROL.

AND ESSENTIALLY WHAT'S HAPPENING THAT IS THE WAR STRATEGY THAT'S BEEN PROSECUTED BY THE SAUDI-LED COALITION OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS, FOUR TO FIVE YEARS, HAS COMPREHENSIVELY FAILED IN ITS PRINCIPAL WAR AIM, WHICH WAS TO DISLODGE THE HOUTHIS FROM SANAA, WHICH USED TO BE THE CAPITAL OF YEMEN.

AND THEN THERE'S A THIRD ELEMENT TO THIS.

IN THE SOUTH OF THE COUNTRY, THE SAUDI-LED COALITION IS BREAKING UP.

THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES HAVE ESSENTIALLY BACKED SOME SECESSIONIST FORCES.

YOU'RE SEEING FRAGMENTATION IN THE COUNTRY AND RADICALIZATION ALONGSIDE A DESPERATE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS.

24 MILLION PEOPLE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF HUMANITARIAN AID TO SURVIVE.

LEVELS OF MALNUTRITION AREUNPRECEDENTED.

CHOLERA THE LARGEST OUTBREAK LAST YEAR.

WE'RE THERE ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS, BUT THE COUNTRY IS IMPRISONED BY THIS POLITICAL MILITARY STALEMATE.

IT IS EXTRAORDINARY TO HEAR YOU EVEN SAY FOUR, NEARLY FIVE YEARS THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON.

THE TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AT RISK AND THOSE WHO HAVE DIED, CHOLERA, ALL THE REST OF IT.

WHY DO YOU THINK AND WHAT IS YOUR VIEW AS TO WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE, WHY DO YOU THINK THE HOUTHIS CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ATTACK ON THE SAUDI INSTALLATIONS GIVEN WHAT MIGHT BE THE REPERCUSSIONS, THAT IT MIGHT HURT THEM?

WELL, I THINK THAT THE ARGUMENT ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HOUTHIS AND THE IRANIANS IS OBVIOUSLY AT THE CENTER OF THE GEOPOLITICS OF THIS DISPUTE.

MY OWN VIEW IS THAT THE HOUTHIS HAVE LONGSTANDING ROOTS IN THE YEMENI SOCIETY.

THEY'RE A BRANCH OF SHIA, SO-CALLED ZAIDI BRANCH OF SHIA.

THEY DON'T HAVE HISTORIC LINKS WITH THE IRANIANS, BUT OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS OR SO, FIVE TO TEN YEARS, THOSE LINKS HAVE STRENGTHENED.

IN THE LAST FOUR TO FIVE YEARS, THE IRANIANS HAVE SEEN A CHEAP WAY TO TWEAK THE TAIL OF SAUDI ARABIA AND ITS WESTERN ALLIES BY SUPPORTING THE HOUTHIS IN THIS CIVIL WAR.

THE CLAIM OF RESPONSIBILITY IS OBVIOUSLY BEING LOOKED AT IN A RATHER SKEPTICAL WAY BECAUSE THE DRONES THAT SEEM TO HAVE BEEN USED GO WAY BEYOND ANYTHING THAT THE HOUTHIS HAVE EVER SHOWN BEFORE AND THERE ARE SOME SIGNIFICANT CLAIMS FROM THE U.S., AMONGST OTHERS, THAT THE IRANIANS WERE BEHIND IT.