Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Governance, stated that Iran's willingness to facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels in Yemen stems from the country's "strong reason to try to help prevent the situation from spiraling further out of control." Parsi pointed out that while Iran benefits from the Houthi pressure on the oil market, Tehran is also concerned about the situation escalating. This concern arises in part from the limitations of Iran's influence—although Iran has consistently supported the Houthis, "it is clear they are not proxies," and "they are independent." Therefore, Iran fears the conflict could escalate in a way that is detrimental to itself. He noted that Iran had previously pushed for a regional ceasefire in a memorandum of understanding signed with the US in June, which primarily targeted Lebanon, and should now extend to Yemen as well. However, Parsi warned that Tehran has limited leverage. It remains unclear whether Iran has sufficient leverage to force a ceasefire if the Houthis fail to achieve their desired outcome—the lifting of the Saudi blockade.
