Late last month, reports emerged from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies that the Yemen Houthi rebels had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the strait of Bab el-Mandeb, one of which sustained moderate damage. The Houthis, meanwhile, reported they had in fact attacked a Saudi warship, the Al-Damman frigate. Taking anything reported by either the Houthis or the Saudis at face value is risky business, but defense and security expert Stephen Bryen has written an article for Asia Times on the possibility of each of these narratives being true. The Houthis are aware, Bryen says, that an attack on a Saudi oil tanker would be perceived as a provocation, and this provocation would be a blow to Iran, which sponsors the rebels. The Houthis claim therefore that the Saudi reports of such an attack are a provocation—and a deliberate one. This is a possibility: there are those who […]