In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard is joined by Crisis Group’s Arabian Peninsula director Yasmine Farouk and senior Iran analyst Hamidreza Azizi to discuss the Houthis’ renewed offensive in Yemen and escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia. They examine Houthi strikes on Saudi targets, including a deadly attack on Riyadh’s airport and the group’s advances in Yemen. They discuss the largely defensive external support Saudi Arabia is receiving and the prospect of direct U.S. involvement. They then turn to Tehran’s calculations, exploring how Houthi advances and escalating attacks on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz serve Iran’s efforts to pressure Washington but at the cost of worsening relations with the Gulf. They also discuss Iran’s evolving deterrence strategy and the collapse of the June U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding over Hormuz, before looking at the dangers of further escalation.
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For more, check out our Q&A Yemen’s War Moves toward Zero-sum Confrontation and our Gulf and Arabian Peninsula regional page.
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