Original subtitles

>> NARRATOR: Tonight, the

continuing story of two

countries at war across the

Middle East.

On one side: Iran...

>> So Iran becomes basically the

war ministry in Syria.

>> NARRATOR: And on the other,

Saudi Arabia...

>> We support the Syrian people.

The Iranians are killing the

Syrian people.

>> NARRATOR: The devastating

war in Yemen.

>> Yemen was taken over by a

militia allied with Iran and

Hezbollah.

The Iranians have no business in

Yemen.

>> We know that Yemen is

important for Saudi Arabia and

we never want to stab Saudi

Arabia in the back.

>> There's another destroyed

building over there.

>> When elephants fight, it's

the grass that suffers.

There's been over a million

casualties in the Middle East

over the last decade.

>> They've been Syrian.

They've been Iraqi.

They've been Yemeni.

>> Where did the missile hit?

Iranian and Saudi citizens

aren't the ones that are

suffering.

>> NARRATOR: Iran and Saudi

Arabia - “Bitter Rivals”.

(man chanting)

>> SMITH: On the edge of the

Shia city of Najaf, in southern

Iraq, is the world's largest

cemetery, the Valley of Peace--

1,500 acres, five million

bodies.

♪ ♪

The cemetery has been open for

over 1,700 years.

Today, among the dead are the

Shia martyrs killed in the

sectarian war that has torn Iraq

apart.

(men chanting)

At the nearby shrine of Imam

Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet

Mohammed, bodies of newly

deceased fighters are carried

past the tomb of Ali to receive

his blessing.

(men chanting)

Some are Iraqi army, others are

members of private Shia militias

backed and trained by Iran

who've been fighting the Sunni

extremists of Al Qaeda and ISIS.

(woman):

(cheering, chanting)

>> SMITH: Today, both those

militias and Iran have emerged

as victors in Iraq.

>> SMITH: I was in Baghdad on

the day that ISIS was driven out

of Mosul.

The crowd, mostly Shia, cheered

for the victory.

>> A victory against ISIS has

been declared in the Iraqi city

of Mosul.

>> SMITH: For Sunnis, this is

what victory looks like.

>> What was once the capital, in

Iraq, of ISIS's caliphate, now

reduced to rubble around us

here.

The devastation on this city...

>> SMITH: In city after city it

is Iraq's Sunnis who have borne

the brunt of the fight.

These were the cities where some

had at first welcomed ISIS--

places like Tikrit, Baiji, Tal

Afar, and Ramadi.

(radio chatter)

(Ibrahim Awsaj):

>> SMITH: Ibrahim Awsaj is

Ramadi's mayor.

>> SMITH: Today few have been

able to return to their homes.

Across Iraq, millions of Sunnis

have been displaced.

Tens of thousands are stuck in

camps like this one.

Some are still suspected of

being ISIS sympathizers.

(translator):

(woman):

(woman):

>> The Sunnis are suffering a

lot.

You can't leave them in the

camps.

If we don't get these people

back to their places, if we

don't find them jobs, if we

don't embark on getting rid of

sectarianism, then I assure you,

the civil war will rage and will

expand to the whole region.

>> SMITH: Look at this.

>> Oh, my God.

Look at that, apocalyptic.

>> SMITH: In the West, today's

sectarian conflict has been

characterized as part of an

ancient war inside Islam, but on

the ground, the reality is more

complicated.

>> There is no doubt that the

historical schism between Sunnis

and Shias has been there since

the seventh century.

But the violence that we are

seeing today is new.

It is modern political violence.

It is a power struggle between

Iran and Saudi Arabia for

dominance of the Middle East and

the Muslim world.

>> SMITH: That power struggle

started here in Iran almost 40

years ago, with Ayatollah

Khomeini's Islamic Revolution.

(man leading prayers)

>> SMITH: Every week at Friday

prayers in Tehran, a leading

imam reiterates the core

principles of Khomeini's

revolution.

(chanting Takbir)

>> SMITH: Khomeini's doctrine

was based on Islamic law and the

ultimate authority of the

supreme leader.

>> SMITH: The rejection of

Western domination.

>> SMITH: And the overthrow of

the Gulf monarchies,

particularly the Saudi royal

family.

>> SMITH: It also included the

command to spread Islamic rule

to other countries.

(man shouting commands)

(Mohsen Rafighdoost):

>> SMITH: Mohsen Rafighdoost, a

founding member of the Islamic

Revolutionary Guard Corps, the

IRGC, believes they have a

continuing duty to spread

Khomeini's revolution.

>> SMITH: At a pro-government

rally, it's clear that

opposition to Saudi Arabia is

central to their worldview.

>> So in the Iranian case, Saudi

Arabia is an agent of the United

States.

It is there to keep a global

order in which the U.S.

dominates the world.

And Saudi Arabia's control over

Mecca and Medina, the two

holiest shrine complexes in the

Muslim world, is unacceptable.

(chanting)

If you read Imam Khomeini's last

will and testament, if you

listen to the sermons of the

supreme leader who succeeded

him, Ayatollah Khamenei, Saudi

Arabia is a state that needs to

be destroyed, a state that needs

to be eradicated, really.

(man):

(cheering)

>> SMITH: The Saudis insist that

Iran is a hostile, belligerent,

adventurous nation attempting to

export revolution around the

region.

How do you respond?

>> Well, talk is cheap.

Let's look at the actions.

Saudis helped Saddam Hussein for

eight years.

Saudis helped Al Qaeda.

Saudis created Daesh.

Saudis created Al Nusra.

Saudis are funding terrorists

who are operating in eastern

Iraq.

So they started this sectarian

message.

Not us.

>> SMITH: The Iranians look at

you and they say, "You've been

busy supporting and exporting

extremism."

What's your response to that?

>> Nonsense.

The Iranians are the ones who

are exporting terrorism.

They're the ones who are stoking

the fires of sectarianism.

They're the ones who are

violating international laws and

norms and acceptable behavior.

And they are the ones who have

been on an aggressive path since

1979.

>> Despite the fact that the

United States and almost every

other powerful nation supports

Saudi Arabia actively and tries

to undermine us actively, we are

still the most influential power

in the Middle East.

That should tell you something.

That you-- should tell you that

we have made the right choices

and they've made the wrong

choices.

>> SMITH: One of the most

important choices Iran made has

been in Syria, where war has

raged for almost seven years.

(horn honks)

(man speaking Arabic)

>> SMITH: Today, over five

million people have fled Syria.

Millions more have been

displaced, hundreds of thousands

killed.

The last time I was in Syria,

the ancient city of Aleppo was

divided.

East Aleppo was held by rebel

forces.

After a long, brutal siege, the

Assad regime finally retook

control in December 2016.

Today in East Aleppo, people are

trying to resume their lives.

(boy yelling)

(man singing in Arabic)

I spoke with some regime

supporters.

So how are you doing?

How is your business?

(man):

>> SMITH: Who were your friends,

who was helping Syria?

>> SMITH: We asked people what

Iran was doing here now and they

pointed us to this school.

Next to portraits of President

Assad and Iran's Ayatollah

Khamenei, the sign reads "Gaza

School-- A Gift from the Islamic

Republic of Iran."

(teacher):

(students):

>> They are happy, because they

lived maybe now eight years.

>> SMITH: Six years of war, and

they're eight years old now.

>> Now, yes.

(kids repeating)

This is the fifth school opened

after the war.

>> SMITH: Uh-huh.

It was built by whom?

>> The worker from Aleppo, but

the money come from the people

of Iran to help us.

>> India, America, Russia,

France, Syria.

>> SMITH: I was told Iran has

contributed to the rebuilding of

47 schools in the province.

It seems to be part of a larger

strategy.

(students applaud)

(music playing)

>> The Iranians are here for

their interests.

Nobody would send money and

fighters and others for--

because they are a charity.

They are here for their

interests.

(indistinct chatter)

>> SMITH: I first met Anas

Joudeh in Damascus in 2015, when

he was leading a group of

pro-democracy activists.

(Joudeh):

The Iranian interest is obvious.

Now we are seeing it.

Iran mainly wants to be

recognized from United States

and the international community

as a normal country.

Not as a part of the Axis of

Evil, not as a country that is

not part of the international

community.

>> SMITH: From the start, Iran

backed Assad.

>> Syria has really been Iran's

only continuous ally since the

1979 revolution.

And when the uprisings began,

the Iranian regime was

determined to do all in their

power, both financially and

militarily, to prevent the Assad

regime from collapsing.

>> SMITH: Back in 2011, inspired

by the Arab Spring, protests

began against the Assad regime.

(chanting)

>> The first six to ten month

of the uprising, this was truly

a civil uprising.

(man speaking on loudspeaker)

That was motivated by the rest

of the Arab uprising-- the need

for political participation,

asking for freedom, reining in

the security services of the

Syrian regime.

And it was led by a fairly

nonviolent civil movement of

students, laborers, villagers.

(singing):

And then, I think what happened

is, a decision was made by Assad

regime that, "We are not going

to negotiate."

(loud explosion)

(screaming, shouting)

>> New deadly violence in Syria.

Army security forces fired on

peaceful protesters.

The government denies anyone was

killed.

>> SMITH: Once the violence

began, Iran sent in money,

weapons, and military advisers

from the IRGC to help Assad

crush the protests.

>> In Syria, violence and

protests.

Will the government there

buckle?

>> SMITH: The official line both

here and in Iran is that the

uprising in 2011 was really a

foreign plot.

Was there never a popular

revolution in the first month...

>> No.

>> SMITH: ...or weeks.

>> In fact, it has never

been there, I'm living

here.

>> I know what happened.

It was a prepared--

pre-fabricated scenario of what

will happen.

Since the beginning, we have

said that this is a war against

Muslim fanatics.

(shouting in unison)

>> SMITH: In fact, armed

opposition to Assad grew

gradually, and was made up of

many different groups backed by

many countries.

>> You had Saudi Arabia, who was

an important patron.

You had Qatar, who was an

important patron.

U.A.E., to a lesser extent, was

a patron.

You had Turkey, who was a

patron.

You had the United States, who

was a patron.

You had the E.U., who was a

patron.

Everybody is giving money to

different people.

Everybody is giving different

types of weapons to different

groups.

(explosions, rapid gunfire)

>> SMITH: The Saudi Arabian

government supported two

hardline Sunni Islamist groups.

You paid millions of dollars

into groups like Ahrar al-Sham

and Jaysh al-Islam...

>> And who are Ahrar al-Sham?

And who is Jaysh al-Islam?

They're Syrians.

They're Syrians being killed by

whom?

They're being killed by

Iranians.

So we're giving them the means

to defend themselves.

(gunfire)

We support the Syrian people.

The Iranians are killing the

Syrian people.

That's the difference between

us.

(rapid gunfire)

(shouting)

>> Saudi Arabia tried to play

the Iranian playbook, which is,

"Let's find groups which share

sectarian identity with us, and

which are willing to fight and

die for the cause."

And the groups that they were

able to find were Salafi groups.

(shouting in local language)

These are the groups that they

could find, fund, share with

them sectarian identity, and

they were willing to fight, to

stand up to the Iranian

Revolutionary Guards, but also,

the Iranian proxy groups.

Be it Hezbollah or be it the

Shia militia.

>> SMITH: There's another

militia.

The Shia militia groups backed

by Iran are hard to track down

here.

We'd been discouraged by Syrian

officials in Damascus from

visiting a famous Shia holy

site.

We decided to go anyway.

This is the shrine of the

Prophet Mohammed's granddaughter

Sayeda Zeinab.

(man singing)

We arrived on the day of

Arbaeen, where pilgrims mourn

Zeinab's brother Husayn, the

revered Shia figure who was

brutally murdered in the seventh

century.

(singing continues)

(drums beating)

Worshippers ceremonially strike

themselves for failing to save

Husayn from martyrdom.

(drum beating continues)

What does it mean to you to be

here?

>> SMITH: Among the pilgrims

were Shia fighters recruited by

Iran.

This was why we were not

supposed to film here.

Uh-huh.

Okay.

Okay.

>> SMITH: All right, so we just

passed a group of Afghan

volunteer soldiers who've come

to fight in the Syrian war.

There was the Fatemiyoun

division, Afghan Shia trained

by the IRGC.

(man singing on loudspeaker)

And all around town there were

posters of Iranian-backed Shia

militia leaders from Iraq.

Most significant here, among the

pilgrims, Hezbollah fighters,

Iran's proxy army from

neighboring Lebanon.

(marching band playing)

Supported by Iran since the

early 1980s, Hezbollah has

become a major political party

and the most powerful military

force in Lebanon.

They were secretive about their

involvement in Syria.

Coming to the defense of Assad

was politically controversial in

Lebanon.

But Syria is strategically

important for their survival.

>> Iran has basically been using

Syria as a thoroughfare to arm

and finance Hezbollah.

And so for that reason, I think

both Iran and Hezbollah saw the

potential fall of the Assad

regime in Syria as an

existential threat to them,

certainly for Hezbollah.

>> SMITH: And Iran had a much

larger regional ambition, a land

route from Tehran all the way to

the Mediterranean and the

border with Israel.

>> Iran has now secured a land

corridor stretching from Tehran

through Iraq and Syria all the

way to Lebanon.

>> To me, that's really the key

to their foreign policy.

For Iran, a lot of what gives

them any say in the region, any

say with the United States, is

that they're able to constantly

put pressure on Israel and

constantly threaten that they

can attack Israel.

It's an ideological goal.

It's a political goal.

But it's also a goal that they

feel like they are slowly,

gradually, making progress on.

>> Hezbollah is projecting

Iranian influence across the

Middle East by fighting in Syria

alongside the Syrian military.

>> SMITH: Meanwhile, Iran

continues to say they don't have

a military presence in Syria,

and only provide advisers at the

request of the Syrian

government.

>> Hezbollah has supplemented

its knowledge of guerilla

warfare with conventional

warfare, and played a critical

part in turning the war Assad's

way.

>> SMITH: In the end, the war in

Syria will be recorded as among

the most brutal in modern times.

>> An aerial attack in Syria's

Aleppo province using improvised

munitions like these, the

so-called barrel bombs.

(loud explosions)

(man saying Takbir)

>> SMITH: Assad has been guilty

of horrific violence.

Barrel bombs packed with nails

and shrapnel.

Chemical weapons.

Whole cities have been under

siege.

An estimated half million dead.

And the war is not yet over.

>> Human beings inside Syria on

all sides have suffered in the

course of this war, you know,

nearly ten million people made

homeless, almost half of the

population of Syria having left

their homes.

You know, the sheer magnitude

of what's happening in Syria...

>> SMITH: But the opposition has

been unable to topple Assad.

The Saudis believe the U.S.

shares part of the blame.

>> There was regional

willingness to undertake action

that the U.S. and other

countries were reluctant to lead

in.

But it would have required joint

action by the United States.

And when Mr. Obama began to talk

about red lines, naturally, the

regional states thought that he

was serious about that.

>> SMITH: He was stepping up.

>> That he was stepping up.

But we know what happened.

>> Getting reports minutes ago

that Russia has launched

airstrikes in Syria.

(loud explosions)

>> SMITH: Two years later, when

the Russians began aerial

bombing, Iran sent in even more

ground troops, and the war

turned decisively in Assad's

favor.

>> Russia wants to keep Assad

in, and working with Iran,

Russia wants...

>> SMITH: Saudi support for the

rebels has declined.

>> There seems to be a power

vacuum developing in Syria.

>> The Saudi have withdraw from

Syria.

If they are talking about

vacuum, about filling power,

they withdraw.

Nobody told them to go out.

They withdraw.

And by de facto, the-- the power

who is here will fill the

vacuum.

>> SMITH: And what does it mean

to you that these outside

players have been destroying

your cities and are making

decisions outside the country as

to what happens?

>> For us, it's a matter now to

choose between... the bad and

the worst.

(children squealing playfully)

Sadly, the interest of the

average Syrian now is security.

>> SMITH: Just to be safe.

>> Just to be safe.

A way that they can send their

children to schools, that they

can provide food to their

families.

They can live safely.

(people talking softly)

We are against the regime, the

political power who is

controlling the state, yes.

But we can't leave the country.

We can't afford not to work for

this country.

We can't.

We can't.

It's our destiny.

(man chanting on loudspeaker)

>> What happens in Syria will go

a long way in shaping the

perception throughout the region

of, who is the winner in this

contest?

And right now, as of today, the

winner in this contest in Syria

is Iran.

We have now an Iranian

expeditionary force that

includes Hezbollah, includes

Shiite militias from Iraq,

Shiite from Pakistan, Shiite

from Afghanistan, that now can

be deployed at Iran's wish and

under Iran control.

(man speaking on loudspeaker)

>> SMITH: Confronted by Iran's

expansion, and nervous about

America's commitment to the

region, the Saudis made a show

of force.

In 2016, with a coalition of 34

mostly Sunni states, they staged

a massive military exercise.

They called it "Northern

Thunder."

>> Everybody in the neighborhood

knows the truth about Saudi

Arabia.

You know, it's a powerful, very

well financed, very economically

important country, but there is

a little bit of a hollow core

there.

And that's what makes the Saudi

royal family so insecure.

(man speaking on loudspeaker)

>> SMITH: The coalition was

driven by the new young minister

of defense, Prince Mohammed bin

Salman, who sat just behind his

father, the aging King Salman.

The prince also intended

Northern Thunder to send a

message to the Americans.

>> The Americans had been

feckless in Syria and had left

them with a regional conflict on

their border.

And then, to learn that the

Obama administration might be

making a kind of Nixon-to-China

pivot in favor of Iran was

infuriating and really

disorienting, I think.

(man speaking on loudspeaker)

>> SMITH: The Saudis felt

betrayed by Obama's nuclear deal

with Iran, saying it would do

nothing to curtail Iran's

military adventures.

(airplanes roaring overhead)

>> Our concern was, what is

being done about Iran's

nefarious activities in the

region?

>> SMITH: And what did the

Americans tell you?

>> "We are dealing with this.

This is only strictly the

nuclear talks."

The view in the U.S. was that,

"We deal with this separately."

But the Iranians are making

threatening moves in the Gulf.

Are we supposed to sit there

without any defenses?

Of course not.

>> SMITH: Do you believe they

have designs on Saudi Arabia

itself?

>> I hope not.

But from their actions and from

their attempts to destabilize

and their attempts to cause

mischief, that may not be the

case.

♪ ♪

>> SMITH: South of Saudi Arabia,

bordering the strategic passage

to the Suez Canal, is Yemen.

Here, in the poorest country in

the Middle East, is where Prince

Mohammed bin Salman decided to

draw a line against Iran.

This is Sa'dah, in Yemen's far

north, close to the Saudi

border.

It is the tribal stronghold of

the Houthi rebels.

The Houthis are from Yemen's

Zaidi sect, an ancient offshoot

of Shia Islam.

(car horns honking)

It took us nine hours to get

here last night.

They estimated it would take us

four, but with checkpoints and

bad road and bridges that were

blown out, it took us nine

hours.

(horn honks)

This is a town that's seen an

immense amount of destruction;

there's a building right here

that's been rocketed.

(car horn honks)

Airstrikes by a Saudi-led

coalition have destroyed most of

the city center.

There's another destroyed

building there.

It's a hard war to cover.

Outside media is rarely let in.

We were the only American

reporters allowed inside

Houthi-controlled northern Yemen

in all of 2017.

(metal clanking)

In the old city, the marketplace

had been bombed the previous

year.

(man):

>> SMITH: So what are you going

to do now?

>> SMITH: What do you say to the

people who did this to you?

>> SMITH: Missile strike right

here on the left.

Everywhere we went, we saw and

heard about the devastation from

Saudi bombs.

Why would they bomb that?

(man):

>> SMITH: In the towns and in

the countryside.

(boy):

(imitating bomb falling)

Boom!

(boy):

>> SMITH: Were friends of yours

inside the funeral?

>> SMITH: What happened to them?

(translator speaking)

(man):

>> SMITH: War is not new to

Yemen.

The country has been wracked by

civil wars for more than 50

years.

(gunshots, cheering)

>> Houthi rebels advance in

Sana'a as the situation in Yemen

deteriorates further.

>> ...warning that Yemen is at

the edge of civil war.

>> SMITH: But in 2015, the

Houthis seized the capital.

>> The rebels have taken over

the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, and

advanced into majority Sunni

areas.

>> SMITH: Although the Houthis

had a relationship with Iran and

Hezbollah, at this stage there

was little evidence of direct

military support.

>> The information minister says

Houthi rebels have seized the

presidential palace.

(people cheering)

>> SMITH: The Saudi-backed

president fled to Riyadh, where

he was met at the airport by

Prince Mohammed.

The prince had made a crucial

decision.

Convinced that the Houthi

rebellion represented a threat

from Iran, he ordered a bombing

campaign together with a

coalition of Sunni states,

called "Operation Decisive

Storm."

>> These Saudi fighter jets are

on their way to attack rebel

positions in Yemen.

(loud explosions)

Saudi Arabia has long been

known for getting Washington to

fight its battles.

Not this time.

(jet roaring)

>> The Saudis didn't consult

with us.

They told us about 48 hours

before they started the

campaign.

>> The chaos in Yemen has

suddenly expanded into a

dangerous regional war.

>> We were the closest of allies

in the Middle East.

And that decision shows how

badly the relationship had

unraveled, where they would take

a military action, again,

without consulting us on it.

(sirens blaring)

(Mohammed bin Salman):

>> SMITH: The prince said the

war was necessary because Iran's

goal is to get to Mecca, and,

quote, "We will not wait for a

war on Saudi soil."

>> SMITH: I had met the prince

in Riyadh last year.

He didn't want to do an

on-camera interview, but we

had a long talk.

He told me how he wanted to

reform and modernize Saudi

society.

He dismissed the rivalry with

Iran.

But he said he would stop them

once and for all in Yemen.

I met with Prince Mohammed bin

Salman the other night.

And he told me, quote, "There's

no rivalry with Iran.

This is Iranian propaganda.

They are not worthy of our

attention, and not even number

20 on our list of concerns."

You buy that?

>> Of course.

We do...

>> SMITH: Of course, because

it's from...

>> No, what we, what we have

with Iran is, when you see

rivalry as competition, we're

not competing with Iran.

We don't want to compete with

Iran.

>> SMITH: You're fighting a war

against them in Yemen.

>> We're not fighting a war

against them in Yemen.

We want them to get off our

case.

That's what we want.

Yemen was taken over by a

militia allied with Iran and

Hezbollah that is now in

possession of ballistic

missiles.

The Iranians have no business in

Yemen.

>> SMITH: The spokesman for the

Saudi-led military coalition at

the time was General Ahmed

Asiri.

>> The Houthi they hijack the

country, they hijack the

parliament.

They seize the institution of

the country, they imprison the

president.

We decide to protect our

national security, and to help

the Yemeni government.

>> SMITH: So you launch air

strikes.

>> No, we launch a military

operation.

We don't want to emphasize in

using this kind of sensitive

word, "bombing," "air strike."

We launch a military campaign.

(people shouting)

>> SMITH: Whatever the general

wants to call it, the bombing

has been relentless.

In October 2016, Saudi warplanes

struck the Al Kubra hall in the

capital, Sana'a.

Hundreds of people, including

some Houthi officials, were

attending a funeral.

(sirens blaring)

>> Officials say at least 140

people were killed and hundreds

more injured when the bombs fell

on this funeral hall on Saturday

afternoon, the single deadliest

attack in its 19-month war.

>> SMITH: The Saudis fired two

American-made precision weapons.

As people ran back inside to

save lives, the second missile

hit.

(sirens blaring)

(metal creaking)

(man):

>> SMITH: This man told me 26

members of his family died.

>> SMITH: The Saudis say this

was a mistake, that they didn't

intend to bomb a funeral.

(Abdul Aziz bin Habtour):

>> SMITH: Abdul Aziz bin Habtour

is the Houthi-led government's

prime minister.

(horn honking)

>> SMITH: We have in March the

market bombing in northern

Yemen.

And then in May we have the

bombing of Sa'dah and Marran.

And in October 2016, a Sana'a

funeral bombing.

People say, "The Saudis have

not complied with generally

accepted rules of warfare

in terms of protecting civilian

populations."

The question is, why do these

persist?

>> No, let me tell you

something.

When you conduct a military

operation, mistake would happen.

>> SMITH: How many civilians

have died as a result...

>> No, we don't have numbers of

civilian death, cause of the

Yemeni government have this...

>> SMITH: What was their

number?

>> Ask the Yemeni government.

(loud explosion)

(screaming)

>> SMITH: But no one could give

us accurate numbers.

The U.N. last estimated 10,000

civilian dead, but that was over

a year ago.

>> Saudi Arabia's air campaign

against Iranian-backed rebels in

Yemen is setting off concerns

for a far-reaching regional war.

>> The Saudis have always

regarded Yemen as their backyard

and as their ward--

geopolitically, but also

economically.

And what you're seeing with the

Saudis in Yemen is the building

their capacity to project force.

And Yemen is, in fact, in some

ways a training ground for them

to be able to do that.

Ultimately, not with the aim of,

you know, destroying Yemen,

but building up the capacity

to be able to confront Iran,

should there ever be a war with

Iran.

(distant music playing)

>> SMITH: 1,500 miles away in

Tehran, officials blame the

Saudis for Yemen's trouble.

What is the importance

strategically of Yemen, what's

your interest in Yemen?

>> None, it's none.

We know that Yemen is important

for Saudi Arabia and we never

want to stab Saudi Arabia in the

back.

We send messages to them, before

Yemen erupted into this, that

Yemen is in turmoil.

Let's work out something.

And the only response we got--

you know, what was the response?

"Arab world is none of your

business."

>> Yes.

We tried to solve this.

We tried to talk to the Saudis.

>> SMITH: The Saudis say, "Iran

is involved in Iraq.

Iran is involved in Syria, in

Lebanon, in Bahrain, and in

Yemen."

And they fear...

>> The two, finally, the two

final country-- Yemen and

Bahrain-- we are not really

there.

>> SMITH: But you're still

involved in-- you've chosen

sides.

>> Yes.

(man speaking on loudspeaker)

>> SMITH: A few hours outside

Sana'a, we came upon a

graduation ceremony for fighters

about to set off for the

front lines.

(chanting)

Their slogans sounded like what

I'd heard in Iran and with

Hezbollah.

>> SMITH: While the Houthis

continue to deny they're getting

military help from Iran,

analysts believe some has been

getting through.

>> What I think Iran is trying

to do is to fund and support an

insurgency, in Yemen, that

should it succeed, Yemen

suddenly becomes an ally of

Iran.

But even if it fails, or it just

lasts a long time, you have

completely distracted your chief

adversary, Saudi Arabia, from

the war in Syria, from the war

in Iraq.

(man speaking on loudspeaker)

>> SMITH: And how much is it

costing Iran?

>> It's hard to say.

But it does not seem that it's

costing them all that much.

They're not able to give them

enough for the Houthis to

succeed.

But what they are able to do, I

think, is perpetuate that

conflict and to fuel the fire

as long as it goes.

>> SMITH: It's hard to track how

much help Iran is providing.

>> If, indeed, the Iranians are

providing support to the

Houthis, that should show up in

the weapons record.

>> SMITH: To determine the level

of Iran's engagement, Conflict

Armaments Research has analyzed

Houthi weapons.

CAR is a private group with

funding from the E.U. and a

contract with one member of the

Saudi coalition.

>> We were able to determine

that these drones were not

indigenously designed nor

manufactured.

Its design was essentially

identical to an Iranian drone

called an Ababil-II.

The serial number prefixes were

almost exactly the same.

The internal components matched

up with internal components used

in Iranian drones.

And then we traced some of the

components back to an Iranian

distributor.

>> SMITH: So when the Houthis

say, "We're not getting any kind

of support from Iran, in terms

of weapons or material," what

do you say to that?

>> The evidence clearly shows

otherwise.

>> SMITH: Are you familiar with

Conflict Armament Research

group?

Their conclusions are that Iran

has provided technical know-how,

at least, and in some cases,

armaments to Yemen.

>> They are not helping us.

We wish they are doing so.

>> SMITH: The problem is that

nobody believes you.

>> Yes, I know that.

>> SMITH: Americans don't

believe you when you say that

there's no help from Iran.

>> Yes, I-- let them believe

that.

I believe what I say.

I'm very happy with that.

>> SMITH: There are no questions

about who supplies weapons to

the Saudis.

The largest amount comes from

the United States.

♪ ♪

This is the Amran cement

factory.

After successive Saudi air

attacks, it was shut down.

1,500 workers lost their jobs.

(Abdullah al Haimi):

>> SMITH: The Saudis say that

they're fighting Iran in Yemen.

>> SMITH: So who makes this?

>> America.

In the United States.

It's American.

>> SMITH: It's a CBU 105.

A U.S.-made cluster bomb.

It delivers 40 separate

explosive projectiles.

Following reports of their use

in Yemen, they were

discontinued.

How many are left in Saudi

stockpiles is unknown.

In 2016, the Obama

administration halted shipments

of both cluster bombs and

precision-guided weapons.

But the damage had been done.

>> SMITH: Back in the capital,

Sana'a, we came across a rally

called, "No to U.S. Terrorism."

What brought you here today,

why'd you come?

>> Today I came here to tell the

world that we are suffering, we

are dying here.

(man speaking on loudspeaker)

>> SMITH: The rally was timed to

coincide with President Trump's

arrival in Riyadh, the first

foreign visit of his presidency.

(man shouting via loudspeaker)

He pledged to renew America's

relationship with the kingdom.

>> You, Trump, stop killing

Yemenis with Saudi hands.

(crowd chanting)

>> SMITH: Trump promised another

$110 billion in weapons to the

Saudis.

>> And we will be sure to help

our Saudi friends to get a good

deal from our great American

defense companies.

(chanting)

>> SMITH: The Houthis greeted

him by launching a missile at

Riyadh.

(chanting continues)

You seem like you're bogged down

in Yemen at this point.

>> I don't think so.

We're not bogged down.

We're making progress.

The U.S. has been fighting in

Afghanistan for ten years.

You've been fighting in Iraq for

how many years?

The coalition against ISIS in

Syria has been conducting

operations for how many years?

Longer than our war in Yemen.

(man chanting over loudspeakers)

(tapping)

>> SMITH: The war in Yemen is

now in its fourth year.

Both sides stand accused of war

crimes.

The country is failing.

Garbage lies uncollected.

Drinking water is polluted.

And there's the biggest cholera

outbreak in modern history.

(indistinct chatter)

In addition, there is widespread

malnutrition.

In Hajjah, one of Yemen's

poorest provinces, I met

five-year-old Ruqayah.

The hospital up near her home,

hours away, had been bombed.

Other children can't even reach

here.

(nurse):

(baby wailing)

>> SMITH: Just a day or two

before, a severely malnourished

boy had come in, but it was too

late.

(nurse):

>> SMITH: And who do you blame

for the war?

(man speaking local language)

>> SMITH: Yemen now is facing a

dual humanitarian crisis.

Does that matter to Tehran?

>> I don't think so.

And the reason I don't think so

is because I don't think they

see it as their fault.

(baby crying)

Any of the injustice that's

happening, any of the suffering,

the entirety of the humanitarian

crisis, is being blamed on Saudi

Arabia.

But what Iran never does is take

responsibility for any of the

bad things that happen in the

areas that it's involved in.

Together, they have done this to

the region.

But neither of them see

themselves as responsible.

They all see it being driven

from the other side.

♪ ♪

(indistinct chatter)

>> When elephants fight, it's

the grass that suffers.

And in today's Middle East, the

two elephants are Iran and Saudi

Arabia.

There's been over a million

casualties in the Middle East

over the last decade.

But they've been Syrian.

They've been Yemeni.

They've been Iraqi.

♪ ♪

Iranian and Saudi citizens

aren't the ones that are

suffering.

♪ ♪

(man shouting on loudspeaker)

(crowd chanting)

(children chatting)

♪ ♪