Why Yemen is Becoming the Iran War's Next Front

The Iran war is spilling over into Yemen. And now, the country is on the verge of a full-blown civil war that could drag in Saudi Arabia, Iran — and potentially the United States. Over the last several weeks, the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed internationally recognized government have been clashing at a pace and with a fury not seen since a 2022 ceasefire brought a halt to a devastating eight-year civil war. The war in Iran has changed the dynamics of the region in ways that have left Yemen poised to become the next place where the conflict spreads. My guest today, Alexandra Stark, is a political scientist at RAND who studies the region. She is the author of the book The Yemen Model and recently wrote a New York Times op-ed about the prospect of Yemen becoming a new front in a widening Middle East conflict. We kick off by discussing recent events on the ground in Yemen, their connection to the U.S.-Iran war, and the mechanisms through which Yemen could once again become engulfed in a devastating civil war — one fueled by Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.