In the long arc of great power rivalry over the Persian Gulf, a weekend of Houthi strikes on Saudi oil infrastructure has compressed months of simmering tension into a single urgent moment. Donald Trump, weighing options from economic strangulation to military force, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard, threatening to strike every American base in the region, are each testing whether the other's words are policy or theater. As world leaders converge on New York for the UN General Assembly, the narrow straits of diplomacy and the narrow straits of Hormuz are both, simultaneously, at risk of closing.
Middle East tensions spike as Iran warns of US bombing plans amid Houthi attacks
War & Conflict