Baraa Shiban

My first guest has actually negotiated with the Houthis.

Baraa Shiban takes us inside the movement and reveals how Iran helped transform it into a powerful regional force and what Tehran may be trying to achieve now.

You, you f- you fly from Yemen to Beirut and then from Beirut they would take you to, uh, take you to Tehran.

They would take women.

But how much of this is being driven by Tehran, and how much by the Houthis themselves? My next guest has a unique perspective.

He was part of Yemen's 2011 pro-democracy movement and later participated in negotiations with the Houthis before going into exile.

Baraa Shiban is an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

He joins me now.

As you know very well, the Middle East is in flames, and he is rather busy.

However, I am delighted to say that we have dear, dear friend of the show, Baraa Shiban, back with us.

Hello, Baraa.

How are you, man?

Paid for by Win Senate, WinSenate.org. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

We're back.

I'm speaking with Baraa Shiban, who was recently on the ground in Taiz, where the residents are putting up an increasingly desperate fight against the Houthis attempts to take over that city.

The thing about Taiz, Baraa, which I was sort of interested to discover or to be reminded of, is that in Yemeni terms, it's a relatively young city.

And that was Mustafa Noman, Yemen's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Well, listening, uh, to all that has been, uh, Baraa Shiban, an associate fellow with the UK-based defense think tank, the Royal United Services Institute.

He's Yemeni himself.

On the minister's final point, should the international community be doing more to isolate the Houthis?