Saudi Arabia likely will feel the need to take some kind of action against the new Iranian-backed regime in Yemen, says former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte.
The Shiite rebels
announced Friday they are dissolving the parliament and taking complete control.
The Saudis share a border with Yemen and "will probably feel compelled to act in some way," Negroponte said Sunday on
"The Cats Roundtable" on New York's AM 970.
Story continues below.
"It’s not only the fact of being Shiite, but the fact that it may create … an opportunity for Iran to meddle in this country [Yemen] that not only borders on Saudi Arabia, but also borders on the Red Sea and controls the access … to the Suez Canal," Negroponte told host John Catsimatidis.
Negroponte also said he applauds Jordan's King Abdullah for his strong reaction" to the video released last week of a Jordanian pilot being burned alive by the Islamic State (ISIS).
Abdullah vowed to stamp out ISIS, and the country claims to have carried out at least 56 bombing raids since then.
Turning to Russia, Negroponte said President Vladimir Putin and his government "bear full responsibility" for bad relations with the United States.
Both the Bush and Obama administrations tried repeatedly to establish productive ties with Putin, he pointed out, adding, I certainly wouldn’t hold the United States responsible for the fact that relations between us and Russia have taken a turn for the worse."
Negroponte said Putin’s "primary objective geopolitically is to assert influence over the former Soviet republics. … And I think that’s what explains his behavior in Georgia five or six years ago. And it explains … the seizure of the Crimea and fomenting problems in the eastern Ukraine."
Asked whether the state of the world is worse than it has been lately, Negroponte said the world always has been "a very messy place," and the West must patiently work through all its problems.
"We are a democratic nation … We are a force for good, and we have to keep our shoulder to the wheel," he said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.