PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 19th, 2026: Iran Helping Direct Houthi Attacks & Romania Downs Drones as NATO Threats Mount
00:11It's Monday, the 19th of October. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker,your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, in news that shouldsurprise absolutely no one, new reporting reveals that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps,the IRGC, is helping the Houthis coordinate deadly attacks against Saudi Arabia. Later in the show,Romanian F-16s bring down two suspected Russian drug.drones inside NATO airspace, and officials believe they're among Moscow's newer, faster drone models.The mounting incursions, coupled with attacks on shipping, are pushing the alliance to bolsterits Black Sea defenses. But, as the White House says, at least Vladimir Putin is easier to deal
00:59with than Ukraine's President Zelensky. So there's that. First up, today's afternoon spotlight.We've been tracking the Iran-backed Houthi offensive in Yemen, and the increasingly destructive attack,against Saudi Arabia. Now, new reporting confirms what we've been reporting here on the PDB for sometime. Iran's role goes well beyond supplying weapons, training, and money. According to new reportingfrom the Wall Street Journal, officers from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, are operatinginside Yemen, helping Khutti forces select targets, plan military operations, and direct drone andmissile strikes against Saudi Arabia and its allies. The findings come from people briefed,Saudi and Houthi intelligence.
01:43And one of the more interesting reportsinvolves two flights from Iran to Yemenback in July of this year.Officially, the Mahan Air aircraftwere transporting Yemeni pilgrims and Houthi officialstraveling to and from Tehran for funeral eventshonoring Iran's former supreme leader, al-Ighamani.But, according to the journal's sources,
02:05the flights were also carrying IRGC officers,drone components, missile guidance systems,and detonators.I wonder if that all fits in the compartment above your seat or if you have to put it underneatha seat in front of you.Do you mean to tell me that there's gambling going on at Rick's Cafe?Shocked.Mahan Air has long been under American sanctions for transporting weapons and personnel and money
02:28for the IRGC.Saudi Allied forces reportedly discovered the cargo and bombed the runway at Sana'a Airportto prevent the second flight from landing.That confrontation helped ignite the current round of fighting.ending a four-year truce.The Houthis dispute the account.Well, if they say so, or if the IRGC tells them to say so, that I'm sure there's nothing to it.A senior Houthi official who says he was aboard the second flight accuses Saudi Arabia
02:55of exaggerating the Iranian connection to justify the attack.But the allegations don't end with those flights.The journal reports that IRGC officers subsequently helped the Houthisestablished positions along Yemen's Red Sea.coastline, assisting with radar systems, missile deployments, and battlefield planning.When the Houthi offensive began in September, under the guidance and at the behest of Iran,Saudi-backed forces were caught off guard. The militants pushed down the coast,seized the port city of Moka, and advanced towards strategic territories surrounding the Babel Mandeb Strait.
03:31Their attacks combined infantry assaults with coordinated missile and drone strikes.They also used first-person-viewed drones guided by fiber optic cables.which, of course, makes it more difficult to disrupt using conventional electronic jamming.Sources familiar with the fighting attribute some of that improved coordination to Iranian training,resources, and on-the-ground intelligence support.One government official says Revolutionary Guard personnel were operating near the front lines,directly assisting with drone and missile attacks.Of course, the actions of the Iranian regime and their proxy group extend well beyond the borders of Yemen.
04:07The Houthis obstruct Saudi oil infrastructure, commercial shish.shipping and airports. Last weekend, an attack at Riyadh's International Airport, killed at least13 people. Iran denies directing the group, oh well, if they say so, and Houthi officials rejectclaims that Iranian assistance explains their recent successes. But the intelligencedescribed by the journal points to a close operational relationship. For the Iranian regime,having the Houthis engage in this conflict with the Saudis offers a strategic advantage.We've spent considerable time here on the PDB discussing Iran's efforts to use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage against Washington and its Gulf allies.The Houthis now, of course, threaten another vital passage that would be the Babel Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
04:56Pressure at both choke points raises risks for commercial shipping, energy exports, and international trade, and all of this serves the agenda of Tehran, exerting additional pressure on the U.S.,the region and global energy markets. As we've discussed previously here on the PDB, you cannot separatethe Iran conflict from what their proxy group is doing in Yemen. And the regional response is growing.This morning, we did mention that Egypt is considering military assistance to Saudi Arabia.Separately, the Guardian reports that the United Arab Emirates, the UAE, has agreed to resume fundingto Allied Yemeni forces. Egypt, for their part, and says,Any involvement would be defensive, but the prospect of additional Arab military support shows just how widely the conflict's consequences are being felt.For Yemen's civilians, renewed fighting means still more displacement and pressure on already strained humanitarian services.
05:55And for Washington, the dilemma is becoming increasingly complicated.The Trump administration wants to bring the war with Iran to an end in order to stabilize energy markets.But even though the White House seems to want to treat Yemen and Iran as two separate issues,Tehran is helping Nakhuti's intensify attacks that threaten Saudi Arabia, the region, a critical shipping route, and global energy markets.All right, coming up next, another incursion into NATO airspace ends with Romanian F-16s shooting down two suspected Russian drones.Now, allies are heading into talks on how to confront the growing threat in and around the Black Sea.I'll be right back.Hey, Mike Baker here.
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09:30that continue to test the alliance's defenses and patience.Both drones had entered the airspace of a Romania's territorial waters,according to the country's defense ministry.Romanious defense minister said Sunday,quote,the ones from last night were flying at approximately 280 miles per hour,which leads us to think they were Russian-made Garon four droneswith turboprop engines.
09:53Now, this is the first time, he said,we've shot down drones like these, end quote.While a turboprop engine is not the same,as a jet engine, it is similar as it does use a gas turbine core. That identification is stillpreliminary, but if Romanian officials are correct, their pilots encountered a faster Russianattack drone, leaving air defenses less time to identify the thread and shoot it down.Now, we've been following Russia's efforts to expand its use of these weapons, and that includesa massive new drone launch facility in the Rostov region, that's near Ukraine, where a satellite
10:29imagery analyzed by Reuters showed a base taking shape in just six weeks, apparently, to launchthe newer Guran models. And as Russia expands its drone capabilities, Romania is reporting a sharpincrease in incursions. Romani's defense ministry says the country has recorded 35 unauthorizeddrone incursions so far in 26. That's compared with nine throughout the entire 2025.Bucharest has responded with force. Romanian troops began shootingdown drones entering their airspace earlier this year and have destroyed six so far this year,compared with none in 2025. Romania shares a roughly 380-mile border with Ukraine, much of italong the Danube River. Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian ports and other infrastructure
11:18along that waterway, bringing its weapons dangerously close to Romanian territory. That geographyhelps explain the danger now facing commercial ships along the coast. Just days before Saturday'sinterceptions, drones struck two chemical tankers anchored near the Sulina Canal. That canal connects theDanube to the Black Sea, giving Ukraine an important route to move exports down the river and outinto international waters. A NATO military source told Reuters that Russian drones hit both tankers.Romanian authorities are still searching for seven missing crew members. At least five othercargo ships have been struck near the coasts of Romania and neighboring Bulgaria over the past twoweeks. As I have previously discussed on the podcast, across those additional incidents, 23 sailors have
12:06been reported dead or missing. Notably, most of those attacks occurred outside NATO territorial waters.But both the airspace violations and the attacks on shipping will come before the North AtlanticCouncil tomorrow at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Romania's foreign minister said discussionswould focus on Black Sea defense and deterrence, including how NATO can expand its military presencein the region and strengthen its surveillance capabilities.A NATO official told Reuters, quote, NATO is ready and able to react to any potential threat,24-7, to safeguard our territory and protect our people, end quote.Now, no word yet from the White House as to whether they blame Zelensky for these Russian drone
12:51incursions into NATO territory.All right, fine, that makes me sense.sound churlish. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, the 19th of October.If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com.And to listen to the show ad-free, you can do that. It's very simple. Just become a premium memberof the president's daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be backtomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Hey, Mike Baker here. With a pro tip for feelingbest. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever finished breakfast or lunch or dinner, but then find
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