Iran Finds Escalation Is a Fruitful Path to Leverage in War With U.S.

The routes to export oil out of the Middle East are diminishing. The price of energy is soaring. And Iran’s neighbors could be about to endorse some measure of its authority over the Strait of Hormuz. In the past week, Iran and its allies have used military escalation to upend any minimal sense of stability in the region, most dramatically in Yemen. That is shifting the momentum in Iran’s war with the United States to its advantage. The shift may not be decisive. The Islamic republic remains under immense economic pressure, with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade of its southern ports and escalating rounds of sanctions cutting it off from the world. And yet, a series of attacks in recent days by Iran and its allies have expanded the scope of the conflict. That, analysts said, may have given Tehran greater leverage, at least at this moment. The Iranian-allied Houthis of Yemen captured a Red Sea island on Friday , giving them a perch to disrupt shipping in another critical waterway for shipping oil out of the Middle East. “The Houthi success in Yemen has swung the pendulum back in Iran’s favor,” said Gregory Brew, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group. Iran, he said, had managed to shift “the status quo without bringing back a return to full-scale war, which the regime likely doesn’t want at this time.” We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .