Hormuz closure: Houthis prepared to attack shipping near Bab el-Mandeb strait, says report

The Houthis are reportedly prepared to begin attacks on shipping near the Bab el-Mandeb strait and are waiting for orders to start, as per sources who told Reuters. The group has completed preparations by deploying missiles and drones near the strait, which is a key gateway to the Red Sea, located in Yemen's highlands overlooking Hodeidah and the Gulf of Aden.

Any threat to the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait could worsen the global energy crisis caused by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. With the Hormuz strait already closed, any Houthi attack on vessels or ports in the Red Sea would disrupt the Middle East's two main oil export routes simultaneously, creating a new challenge in the energy crisis and Iran's broader conflict with the United States.

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A source close to the Houthis said representatives of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who are present in Yemen, would decide when to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait. In a sign of rising tensions, the Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the two sides.

Three sources told Reuters that Iran had asked Yemen's Houthi movement to be ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States attacked Iranian power infrastructure. Two senior Iranian sources and a regional source familiar with the matter said the idea was discussed within Iran's leadership and the message was passed to the Houthis, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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The sources said the Houthis were recently informed of Tehran's request, which had not been previously reported. They did not provide details on how the message was conveyed or whether it followed US President Donald Trump's threat to attack Iranian power infrastructure. Iran's foreign ministry and a Houthi spokesperson were not immediately available for comment.

A significant amount of Gulf oil has been diverted to the Red Sea through a Saudi pipeline, and the waterway now carries about 7% of global energy supplies. When the Houthis attacked shipping during the Gaza war, major shipping companies rerouted cargoes around Africa, a much longer and more expensive route.

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Saudi Arabia has diverted 70% of its energy exports through its Red Sea port of Yanbu, and any direct attacks there would also pose a major problem for oil markets. One regional source said Iran's clerical rulers are trying to pressure the United States by threatening Red Sea shipping and Saudi oil exports, raising the potential cost to the global economy as part of "Iranian thinking."