How far will Iran push Houthis against Saudi Arabia amid raging conflict?

TEHRAN — The latest confrontation in Yemen is changing the strategic equation around Iran’s war with the United States and its longstanding regional rivalries.

Over the past week, the Houthis have attacked Saudi cities and energy infrastructure while advancing along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, paving the way for significant Houthi influence over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s critical maritime chokepoints. 

For Saudi Arabia, the problem is no longer confined to the kingdom’s vulnerable southern border. Houthi attacks on Aramco facilities in Abha, Najran and Jizan have wounded dozens of people and disrupted energy operations. A separate attack on the kingdom’s East-West Pipeline has further complicated Riyadh’s ability to move oil toward the Red Sea as an alternative to the increasingly constrained Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

That gives the Yemen front an importance well beyond the country itself. If Iran can keep pressure on Hormuz while its closest regional ally threatens Bab al-Mandeb, Tehran could gain the ability to place pressure on two maritime gateways at opposite ends of the Arabian Peninsula.