Converging Contests
The US-Iran conflict is now seeing the risk of escalation extending beyond direct exchanges between Washington and Tehran. While both sides appear to be calibrating their own strikes to avoid a return to full-scale conflict, peripheral actors—including the Houthis and Iran-aligned groups in Iraq—are expanding the geographic scope of the conflict. Regional governments face growing pressure to respond to attacks on their infrastructure and maritime routes. The strike against Egypt’s Damietta port highlights the vulnerability of energy infrastructure outside the conflict’s traditional theater and raises the prospect that additional states could be pulled into the confrontation.
