India, July 15 -- A fragile truce that had largely silenced Yemen's decade-long civil war for four years was torn open this week by a single Iranian flight, turning what began as a dispute over a delegation attending a funeral in Tehran into one of the most dangerous moments in the country's prolonged conflict, and one that risks pulling Saudi Arabia, Iran's Houthi proxies and the US into a new and widening war at the worst possible moment.

On Monday, Houthi forces launched a volley of ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia's Abha International Airport, in direct retaliation for strikes on Sanaa International Airport that the rebels blamed on Riyadh.

Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group had also ...