U.S. faces growing challenge in bid to contain Middle East violence

The United States faced intensifying military action by Iran and its allies on Tuesday, an escalating threat to the Biden administration’s effort to contain violence across the Middle East following the launch of Israel’s war with Hamas militants.

A drumbeat of tit-for-tat incidents between U.S. forces and Iranian-backed armed groups, including a new round of strikes Tuesday against Houthi militants in Yemen, and Iranian strikes into Iraq and Syria on Monday, served as a test of Washington’s attempt to limit regional instability and avoid a direct confrontation with Tehran.