Transcript of Iran And Yemen's Houthis Blockade, Hegseth On Capitol Hill, Arizona Primary Day

Iran already controls one key waterway used for oil shipping in the Middle East.

Now Yemeni rebels backed by Iran are trying to cut off another one. Will they succeed?

I'm Michelle Martin. That's Leila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News. 17 American troops have died in the Iran war. The Pentagon says 100 more were wounded in the past 2 weeks. Today, senators finally get to question Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as he asks them for more money to fund an popular war.

And it's primary day in Arizona, where Republican races will tell us how their voters feel about election denial. There are candidates running who tried to overturn the 2020 election results. Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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There's now a new element of uncertainty in the U.S. war with Iran.

For 10 days, the two sides have exchanged strikes as Iran continues to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. Now Yemen's Iranian-backed rebels say they will blockade another waterway on the other side of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea.

With me now is NPR's Emily Feng, who is in Tel Aviv to talk about this. Emily, good morning.

Good morning, Leila.

So tell us more about this threat of a blockade. Where would it be?

So it would be in this waterway called the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and ultimately the Indian Ocean on one end, and on the other, the Suez Canal all the way up to the Mediterranean Sea. And this strait lets Saudi Arabia, which is one of the biggest oil producers in the world, now get millions of barrels of oil a day out to the open ocean for export. And it needs this strait, especially because Another waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, has been effectively closed by the US-Iran war. So any Houthi blockade would rattle energy markets even more and raise energy prices even higher.

Wow.

Just remind people, Emily, for people who don't pay close attention to this, who the Houthis are.

They are a Yemeni Shiite militant group. They're aligned with the militant group Hamas. They're supportive of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the regime in Iran. And you may remember them from when they were attacking ships in the Red Sea and snarling up logistics lines there. Yemen is where Saudi Arabia had intervened in the civil war against the Houthis. But then this month, Saudi Arabia crossed a 4-year ceasefire with the Houthis by firing missiles at a major airport in Yemen's capital. Saudi Arabia has not acknowledged these strikes, but this week a Houthi spokesperson declared a blockade. Let's listen to his video statement. So here he says the blockade on Saudi ships was, quote, a siege for a siege, basically retaliation, you know, an eye for an eye. Any Houthi blockade, if successful, is going to test Gulf state unity against the Houthis, against Iran, and it's going to further test energy supply chains. Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries around it have been exploring pipeline projects so they can ferry oil over land instead of by water. But Laila, those pipelines will take years to build.

And what about Iran? What's the latest from there?

U.S. CENTCOM said they struck Iran overnight again in a 10th round of consecutive attacks. Iran has been pounding countries which host American military bases and infrastructure as a result, especially Bahrain and Kuwait, but also Jordan, where at least 2 American service members were killed last Friday. A third is still missing. So in total, that brings us to at least 17 service members who have been killed so far in this war. The Pentagon says 427 people have been injured. Iran's government says 3,000 people there had been killed in this war. But amongst all this death and destruction, there's still some efforts at diplomacy. Iran's foreign minister said on state television this week ending a war is possible, quote, through total military victory or through negotiations. And it's also said that it's received offers of diplomacy but has not specified exactly what those are. And then US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US has also received some signals Iran wants to negotiate, but he's noted a split in Iran's ruling echelon between those who want those who want diplomacy.

They'll have to work out that split internally. We're going to continue to respond. If the door opens to diplomacy, if the guys that want to do something productive for Iran win and take control of that system or take control of the negotiations, that'll be a very positive development.

But then he added that's just not where the U.S. and Iran are at this moment.

That's NPR's Emily Feng in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Emily.

Thanks, Leila.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee later today.

The White House is asking for a near nearly $90 billion funding boost, most of that for military operations in Iran. It's been more than 2 months since Hegseth testified on the Hill, and the Pentagon hasn't briefed reporters since May.

Here with more is Quil Lawrence from NPR's national security team. Good morning, Quil.

Good morning.

So what else do we know about the U.S. casualties at this point?

This Iranian attack on a joint U.S.-Jordanian air base on Friday killed 2 soldiers. Another is missing and believed dead. There was another drone-related casualty at a US base in northern Iraq over the weekend. I spoke with 3 former US military officials about this new and rapidly evolving reality of drone warfare. One of them was General Joseph Votel, who formerly led CENTCOM. He said the US had built up power in the region by building these bases.

Our strength for the last several decades has been our forward deployment and our positioning across the Gulf that has reassured partners and put us in a position where we could be responsive to things. But now We are seeing that that same advantage has turned into a little bit of a disadvantage in the face of missiles and especially drones. It has also highlighted a significant vulnerability.

So, again, Iraq and Afghanistan, the enemy had no real range or air power. But now in the age of drone warfare, Iran doesn't even really need an air force because its drones can travel 1,000 miles and hit U.S. bases all over the region.

Does it mean anything that after 3 months there were suddenly 3, perhaps 4 casualties? Over the weekend. Has something changed?

Just that for 10 nights now, Iran and the US have been escalating tit-for-tat bombardments. Iran has stepped up attacks. It's possible they just got lucky or that the US had been very lucky so far. General Votel said that while any death is tragic, these numbers seem low considering the waves of, of missile and cheap armed drones that Iran's been throwing at these US targets. Anyone comparing these wars to Iraq and Afghanistan, the casualties here are an order of magnitude smaller, and there aren't ground troops involved. But one similarity is that there isn't a clear cause or goal that can help the American people understand why these troops have died. You know, one of the servicewomen who died on Friday, she was just 19.

That's so young. We mentioned the Pentagon hasn't briefed on the war since May. Is the Pentagon purposely withholding information from the public, including on the wounded?

A U.S. military official who is not authorized to speak publicly confirmed with NPR that the Defense Department has been slow-walking information on casualties. And just this week, the Pentagon spokesman admitted after questions from journalists that 100 service members have been injured in the last— just the last 2 weeks. He said the vast majority recovered quickly and went back to work. It's also not clear how much damage has been done to these bases. There's concern in Congress about the rapid depletion of U.S. munitions, which is something Hegseth —bound to get questions about today. 3 former military officials I spoke with said that the Pentagon's poor communication has caused a lack of trust. One said, you know, they just don't have much credit. General Votel pointed out that it's not only credit with the American people and Congress, but the U.S. has been leaving key regional allies in the dark, and they're the ones who are bearing the brunt of all these Iranian attacks.

NPR's Quil Lawrence, thank you for your reporting, Quil. Thank you. Today is the last day of voting in Arizona's primary. How is the stage being set for some of the swing state's big races in the fall? Joining us now is Cameron Sanchez with member station KJZZ in Phoenix to talk about this. Good morning, Cameron. Good morning. So you've spent a lot of time talking to voters. What stands out as the main things that they're thinking about?

Well, for Democrats, we've heard a lot about opposition to President Trump, and some voters do relate that to the cost of living. I spoke with Dorothy Garcia at her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, while I was tagging along with a Democratic candidate.

Medical, schools, taxes, the water bill, light bill, electricity, things like that. Yeah.

The richer you are, the less— the more you get.

The poorer you are, the less you get.

For some Republicans, I do think the border— and since we're a border state— and immigration still remains a top issue. But there is concern that if Democrats win Congress, they'll allow too much immigration in their view.

Maybe the most competitive primaries there are for a House seat. It's a toss-up seat that Democrats hope to flip in their effort to take control of the House. Who's running there?

Right, this is a Phoenix metro area district which is currently represented by a Republican congressman, David Schweikert, but he's running for governor, leaving an opening. So the front Front runners on the Democrats are former state legislator Amy Shaw and former broadcaster Marlene Galan-Woods. She's a former Republican who switched parties years ago. So both candidates say they can get the support of independent voters. They both tried to beat Schweikert before. Uh, 2 years ago, Shaw beat Galan-Woods and others in the primary race, but lost to Schweikert in the general election. But this year, Galan-Woods has the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And then on the Republican side, we've got former NFL kicker Jay Feely. He's a lot of name ID and Trump endorsement, but his opponent is a little further to the right. He's Joseph Chaplik, who was a member of the Freedom Caucus when he was a state legislator.

Turning to the race for governor, the incumbent is Democrat Katie Hobbs. Our listeners might remember she barely beat Republican Kari Lake in 2022. Who are her potential opponents this time?

Two congressmen, Andy Biggs and David Schweikert. Biggs is seen as the front-runner in this race. He's got Trump's endorsement and the backing of Turning Point USA, the organization founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Biggs has been a Trump loyalist for a long time and voted against certifying the state's election results in 2020. This go-around, Biggs is definitely leaning away from a far-right image and pitching himself as someone who can work across the aisle. Schweiker comes from that toss-up district where he does have experience appealing to independents.

What other races or trends will you be watching for?

The Arizona Secretary of State's race is one to watch because it highlights trends in Arizona politics like election security and the influence of Turning Point. In the Republican primary, we have a state lawmaker, Alexander Culloden, who's a member of the legislature's far-right Freedom Caucus, and he's an attorney who participated in multiple lawsuits to try to throw out election results in 2020 and 2022. And his opponent, Gina Swoboda, had Trump's endorsement when she became chair of the state party, and there are MAGA entities who like her, but she's never outright claimed elections are stolen. That's an opportunity to see Republican voters' views on election denialism in 2026. The Republican primary winner will face incumbent Democrat Adrian Fontes in the fall.

That's Cameron Sanchez of KJZZ. Thank you so much for your reporting.

Thank you.

And that's Up First for Tuesday, July 21st. I'm Leila Faldun. And I'm Michelle Martin.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Tina CRYAH, Andrew Sussman, Larry Kaplow, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziyad Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes. Our technical director is Stacey Abbott, and our supervising senior producer is Vince Pierson. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

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