Sandego.net – Saudi Arabia is confronting a difficult strategic dilemma after the Iran-backed Houthis expanded their position in Yemen and intensified threats to critical Saudi infrastructure. Riyadh has signaled that it wants to avoid a full-scale conflict, but recent developments are narrowing its room to maneuver and raising the prospect of a much broader regional confrontation.

The Houthi movement’s rapid gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast have added urgency to those concerns. This week, the group seized Perim Island and the port town of Mocha, strengthening its position near the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The waterway is one of the world’s most important maritime corridors for energy shipments and commercial trade.…