Iran and Houthis gain strategic leverage as Gulf balance shifts, analyst says

By Al Jazeera English

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Yemen's Houthis are advancing in the south and west, seizing territory and targeting Saudi cities and oil infrastructure, while Saudi Arabia launches air strikes across five regions. As the conflict escalates, questions are growing about the balance of power in the Gulf and the role of Iran and its allies. Luciano Zaccara, an Iran and Gulf analyst and adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that Iran and its allies are sending a message that regional security cannot be addressed without considering their role. He said they are demonstrating that they can control, or deny others control of, the two strategic straits — Bab al-Mandab and Hormuz. Zaccara said Iran and its allies are regaining strategic depth without controlling territory and that, so far, the strategy is working — not by guaranteeing a military victory, but by denying other actors control and transferring the costs to them. He said Saudi Arabia and the internationally backed Yemeni go

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