An advance by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, which has included the targeting of Saudi cities and infrastructure, has quickly complicated a widening Middle East war.
Not only has it all but unraveled a 2022 truce putting a lid on Yemen’s civil war – in which the Iran-aligned Houthis were fighting a Saudi-led coalition – but the seizure of territory next to the Red Sea has further threatened Saudi energy exports. On Sept. 13, Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf nations were due to take part in crucial Omani-hosted talks with Iran in a bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But they were called off, seemingly over attacks by both the Houthis and Iraqi groups aligned with Tehran.
