一位美国参议员称也门与伊朗之间的冲突已演变为“全面的地区战争”。沙特阿拉伯表示，在重新夺回近期在也门失去的领土前，不会考虑与胡塞武装停火，这意味着这场冲突很可能在中期选举前进一步升级——而中东局势与油价正是此次选举的关键议题。
One U.S. senator is calling the Yemen and Iran conflicts a “full blown regional war.”Saudi Arabia has no plans to consider a ceasefire with the Houthis until it regains recently lost territory in Yemen — making it likely the fight will escalate ahead of midterm elections in which Middle East conflict and oil prices are on the ballot.
据多位了解沙特决策思路的人士（包括地区官员）透露，沙特不愿显得软弱，同时担心胡塞武装会借停火之机扩张领土。出于对敏感外交事务保密的考虑，部分人士要求匿名。
The Saudis don’t want to look weak, and they worry the Yemeni militant group would use any pause to seize more territory, according to half a dozen people tuned into Riyadh’s thinking, including regional officials. Some were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters.
得到伊朗支持的胡塞武装与也门政府已交战十余年，目前控制着包括首都萨那在内的也门大片地区。尽管2022年的停火协议曾使战事暂时缓和，但近几个月冲突再度加剧：9月胡塞武装占领了红海沿岸的战略要地，沙特则于本周发起军事行动，意图夺回失地并重新掌控作为沙特石油出口要道的曼德海峡。
The Iranian-backed Houthis have been in a fight with Yemen’s government for more than a decade and control a substantial part of the country, including the capital city of Sana’a. Though a 2022 ceasefire tamped down fighting, the conflict has intensified in recent months. The Houthis seized strategic land along the Red Sea in September, and the Yemen-aligned Saudis launched an offensive this week to reclaim that territory and wrest back control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — a key transit point for Saudi oil.
预计在可预见的未来，红海入口处的曼德海峡仍将因战事频发而存在航行风险。这一情况将进一步加重全球石油贸易压力——此前美国与伊朗在霍尔木兹海峡的对峙已令相关产业承压。对于希望经济局势在11月选举前有所好转的共和党候选人及其他政治势力而言，这无疑是个坏消息。
Continued fighting means it will be risky for ships to cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea for the foreseeable future — adding to the pressure on global oil and other commerce already strained from the U.S.-Iran standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. And that’s bad news for GOP candidates or anyone else hoping for economic turmoil to ease before November.