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word for word. from the nation's capital to wherever you are, visit the opinion that matters the most, your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span powered by cable. welcome back to washington journal we are joined by brian clark. from the hudson institute, nice to see you again. i wanted to start with iran. launched strikes against syria, iraq and pakistan. what is there and the game? guest: they are trying to establish themselves as a regional power which is something they've done for the pa fewthey work through proxiese houthis, hezbollah, hamas.

they try to use these proxy groups. so force their neighbors to establish action to drive competition in the region. host: i ran head pakistan and they responded today and iran says been killed. where does this go? will there be an issue? guest:zc it's another region whe there is a dispute between iran and pakistan and area of

pakistan just south of iran. that area has been somewhat contested. they are trying to force pakistan to defend thatas well q and saudi arabia. this is their effort to try to expand its control in the middle east. it has decided to take action against a nuclear armed power. they are working with proxies against other countries but this direct attack on pakistan puts pakistan and direct confrontation. iran feels assembled and of his success oa l

challenges. there have been a series of recent protest inside iran. they are succeeding overseas but at home is notat. host: let's talk about the red sea, how effective have the u.s. strike spend? guest: the houthiffective. they have launched a lot of attacks and struck a few container ships with minimal damage and loss of life as far as we could tell. but the cost to defend against them, the u.s. aside in the red sea as well as other countries

and a substantial outlay of personnel and naval presence. the houthis have been successful by forcing a response and west to spend money. they are trying to continue to disrupt the efforts to help israel. host: has it been effective? guest:■b the navy is done good work and its ability with their defense. but the downside because they're using the capabilities they are using, they are using surface-to-air missiles that costs millions to shoot down

drones. this mismatch will become a problem for the u.s. going forward. it's not a sustainable effort. host: if you would like to call and you can do so. the lines are for democrats (202) 748-8000, for republicans (202) 748-8001, for independents (202) 748-8002 and active 8003. guest: houthis were taken off the terrorist list and part two negotiate a settlement for a civil war in yemen.

houthis have been fighting rebels in yemen so the attempt was to take them off the terrorist list and work with saudi arabia to negotiate a settment in yemen. obviously that has not panned out and the houthiselerated effs against commercial fishing vessels. and shipping vessels. putting them back on the terrorist list makes sense and help cut down on the financial networks for them to limited resources. host: what are your concerns for

a wider conflict? guest: it is clear that iran wants to expand this conflict to obtain an advantage for them. if they can get the u.s. drawn into a confrontation in the u.s. they c paint the u.s. as an enemy which is helpful domestically because they have is within iran. ifhe can somehow best the united states in some way it them a way to show that they are a player in the middle east. this is a competition between iran and saudi arabia and israel. iraca show the others to be weak and iran is the player the goal state should gravitate towards as the leader. host: what is china thinking right now? guest: they are taking advantage of the series of confrontations

by supporting iran through back channels. iran is selling oil to the chinese companies. there is money coming as a result of that sale of oil and electronics are making their way to iran through commercial systems. there is also military action. they are taking it's opportunity to support iran and looking for ways to take advantage of the united states if there comes to a conflict in taiwan. host: we have tom a republican in wyoming. caller: are these houthis related to al qaeda?

guest: the houthis are a separate group that may have some relationship to al qaeda but for the most part, they are a shiite supported group. al qaeda was primarily a sunni supported group out of saudi arabia. there are probably a few members that have floated back and foh. melville, new york, tony, and independent. caller: palestine to the sea palestine will be free. i was looking at the hudson

institute is nothing but american imperialism at its finest. iran has been the largest supplier of humanitarian aid. the u.s. is hypocritiyemen whica humanitarian crisis. the head of the world food program is senator john mccain's wife,ialist interest. south africa stood up to the u.s. and china -- i would like to say once again from the river to the sea, palestine will be free. guest: i think there is a good pointo yemen civil war has had an impact

on the civilian population, all bad. the u.s. has to reduce the use of u.s.eapons provided to saudi arabia. theow do you maintain security in the region when population is caught in the middle? host: we have an independent from colorado. caller: i would like to comment on the administration's handling of gaza and houthis. i think he has exercised great restraint. not to make things any worse over there.

helping with shipping internationally and in coalition. people need to understand that. when you have palestinian people dug under hostility. they have to deal with who is very right wing and hard to deal with. i just want to congratulate the admi what they are doing. guest: the administration did a good job of pulling together a coalition to to protect

shipping and during these attacks on the houthi. they took the time to build international supported go after these sites after they had done intelligence analysis and laid the groundwork so when the strike started happening they agreed they are hitting the right places. caller: i have been following this very closely in southern california. it is easy to follow it. i guess my question