September 18th, 2026: China Is Being Pulled Into Saudi Arabia’s Houthi War & Russia’s Parliamentary Election

Mike Baker (0:13)

It's Friday, the 18th of September. Welcome to The President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed.

First up, Saudi Arabia is turning to China for help as its fight with Iran-backed Houthis intensifies and its missile defenses are depleted. Later in the show, Russia's wartime parliamentary vote gets underway with Putin's allies dominating the field and the leading anti-war party excluded. I know this is all a bit of a shock, but Putin apparently isn't allowing any opposition. Plus, the US drops Venezuela from its drug control blacklist after more than two decades. And so Columbia could be next. And in today's Back of the Brief, a major Russian sanctions bill clears the house in the US and now heads to President Trump's desk. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

We're keeping a close eye on the escalating conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia. And the Saudis are now turning to Beijing as they look for support to contain a threat that's getting harder to manage. And as the White House has reportedly rebuffed the Saudis' request for additional assistance.

The latest news comes from Reuters, which reports that Saudi Arabia recently appealed directly to China for help dealing with the Houthis. According to three Iranian sources familiar with the discussions, Beijing then privately contacted the Iranian regime and asked them to use their influence to rein in their proxy. Well, that appeal came after the Iranian-backed Houthis made rapid advances along Yemen's Red Sea coast and around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, leaving Saudi oil exports and commercial shipping increasingly exposed.

Now, China has publicly called for restraint and dialogue throughout the latest fighting. But according to Reuters, its private message to Tehran went further. Beijing specifically wants Iran to use its influence with the Houthis to prevent the fighting from spreading further along the region's critical energy routes, which of course is in China's self-interest. Now, would it be childish of me to mention that China, while calling for restraint publicly, has been supporting the Iranian regime with dual-use components and the continued purchasing of discounted Iranian oil.

Beijing is still Iran's largest trading partner and its biggest oil customer. According to Kepler, Chinese purchases accounted for more than 80% of Iran's seaborne oil exports last year. At the same time, China has enormous economic ties with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states. And roughly half of China's oil imports come from the Middle East.

So from Beijing's perspective, despite their support for the Iranian regime, the Houthi situation is becoming a significant problem. The Strait of Hormuz is already effectively closed to normal traffic. And now the Houthis are increasing pressure around Bab al-Mandeb on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.

Those are two of the most important energy choke points in the world, and China depends heavily on both of them. Tehran's response, at least according to the Iranian sources who spoke with Reuters, was essentially that the Houthi problem can't be separated from the wider war. Well, meaning it's not in Iran's interest to tell their proxy group to cease and desist. Iranian officials reportedly told Beijing that peace and stability in the region, yes, of course, because the Iranian regime is all about peace and stability in the region, depend on ending the US-Israeli war against Iran. China, for its part, apparently, stopped short of threatening Tehran with economic consequences if it refused to cooperate. But the fact that Saudi Arabia went to Beijing in the first place tells us something about Riyadh's current position. Because the kingdom isn't only looking for diplomatic help, it's also reportedly trying to find more weapons to defend itself. The Associated Press reports that Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors after repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks. Two regional officials told the AP that Riyadh has sought air defense assistance from the US, France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt. One of those officials said the situation is complicated by the fact that the US has also burned through significant interceptor stocks during six months of war with Iran. Saudi officials have not publicly confirmed that request.

Remember what Saudi Arabia has to defend there. We're talking about military bases, government facilities, population centers, and an enormous network of oil infrastructure. Of course, some of their military facilities are home to US personnel and key US military assets.

A key pipeline carrying Saudi crude west toward the Red Sea has already been knocked offline, while the Houthis have been targeting Saudi infrastructure and shipping.

But there's another interesting piece to all of this. Even as Saudi Arabia appears to be running low on some defensive weapons, the kingdom may now be reaching deeper into its offensive arsenal. The Wall Street Journal reports that debris found in Yemen appears to be from a Chinese-made Dongfen 15 ballistic missile fired by Saudi Arabia. If that assessment is confirmed, it would be the first known time that the Saudis have used a ballistic missile in combat during their long fight with the Iranian-backed Houthis. Saudi Arabia has possessed Chinese ballistic missiles for decades, but they've largely remained out of public view. So Saudi Arabia is asking China to pressure Iran into restraining their proxy group in Yemen, the same China that's been providing critical support to the Iranian regime, support that has allowed Iran to continue funding and supporting the Houthis.