The Iranians seem to have finally, after many unsuccessful attempts, dragged Yemen’s Houthis into the fight. Sort of.

From the outset of Operation Epic Fury, the Iranian regime lobbied the Houthis both publicly and in private to open a second maritime front — complementing Tehran’s efforts to block traffic in the Strait of Hormuz with a Houthi-led assault on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.

For months, the Houthis balked at the requests from their Iranian sponsors. Back in March, in a reflection of the internal disagreement over whether to reignite the war that the Houthis prosecuted in the Biden years, the Houthis fired a perfunctory drone and missile barrage at Israel. Analysts believe this was likely the compromise on which all sides of the debate could agree.

Months of relative quiet followed that exhibition, which revealed the Houthis’ diminished appetite for war. Even when the Houthis acquiesced to pressure and, in July, announced their intention to close the strait that leads to the Red Sea and toward the Suez Canal, the traffic continued to flow. It seemed that Sana’a was not eager for the fight.

That changed in early August, but it wasn’t the Iranians who changed it.

“The Houthis, increasingly frustrated with what they say is a blockade by Saudi Arabia, launched strikes on the Saudi state oil company and announced a blockade of Saudi ships passing through the Red Sea,” the Washington Post reported on August 2. An ongoing exchange of missiles and drones between the Houthis and the neighboring Saudi Kingdom intensified after August 20, when the Yemeni militia attacked a “sensitive target at........

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