Iran-backed Houthis are increasing pressure on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman started the year on a high note.

He had just visited the White House where he was embraced by US President Donald Trump. Even after the war with Iran kicked off, Saudi Arabia looked relatively well positioned. It could export oil through a pipeline that bypassed the blocked Strait of Hormuz.

But the Saudis’ escalating fight with Iran-backed Houthi militants in neighboring Yemen now poses new challenges to the kingdom’s security and the crown prince’s ambitious but already struggling plans to transform the country’s oil-dependent economy.

Mohammed bin Salman is now facing an economy weakened by heavy spending and miscalculations of the Houthi threat, WSJ adds.