The story: A senior commander of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, better known as the Houthis, is claimed to have been killed in a US airstrike in Iraq. The apparent incident has fueled speculation about the Houthis expanding their role in the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance’ and pursuing horizontal integration with other members of the regional alliance network. As the region braces for an escalation in the confrontation between the ‘Axis of Resistance’ and Israel, the role of the Houthis in the equation is gaining increasing attention.

The coverage: Tasnim News Agency, a media affiliate of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on Aug.4 quoted Yemeni sources as saying that “Ansarullah commander” Hussein Abdullah Mastour Al-Sha’bal was killed in...