Kuala Lampur, Sept. 22 -- The possibility that Yemen could become Saudi Arabia's "Vietnam" as reported in an Opinion Editorial in Newsweek may sound provocative.

Yet behind the analogy lies a strategic development that Malaysia and Asean cannot afford to misunderstand.

Iran has demonstrated that power in West Asia does not have to be exercised exclusively through conventional armies, aircraft or naval formations.

It can be dispersed, networked and exercised through armed movements possessing varying degrees of autonomy while benefiting from Iranian weapons, training, technology and strategic support.

The Houthis, or Ansar Allah, provide the most immediate example.

Their transformation from a Zaydi movement in northern Yemen into a fo...