Even as Iran-Oman negotiations on management of the Strait of Hormuz edge toward an agreement, the Mideast conflict has expanded geographically. Last week’s drone strike on an LNG vessel in Egyptian waters, renewed Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, and lethal US-Saudi strikes on Iraq together illustrate the widening scope of the war — how it is no longer between the US and Israel on the one hand and Iran on the other, with Gulf Arab states caught in the crossfire. Energy assets and chokepoints are a connecting factor that Iran and its allies are seeking to leverage. As the conflict metastasizes, a diplomatic resolution between the US and Iran risks slipping further out of reach.