After successfully disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has now signaled that it is prepared to play what may be its most dangerous card yet: using its Houthi allies in Yemen to shut down the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea.
According to Reuters on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, such a move would place two of the world’s most critical energy shipping routes under simultaneous threat.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. It serves as a vital passage for Saudi Arabian oil exports and a significant share of global maritime trade. If the strait were closed alongside the Strait of Hormuz, the global economic consequences could be far more severe than those already being experienced.
Houthi Threat: “Both Straits Will Be Closed in an Operational Alliance”
The warning was delivered directly by Mohammed al-Farah, a member of the political bureau of the Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah.
In remarks reported by Iran’s Press TV, he warned that if Saudi Arabia continued its attacks on Yemen and the situation further deteriorated, “the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz will be closed in an operational alliance. Oil prices will then soar to US$200 per barrel in a devastating shock,” he said.
Analysts interviewed by Reuters viewed the threat as part of Iran’s broader strategy to increase pressure on Washington by expanding risks to global trade routes beyond the Persian Gulf.
Middle East expert Fawaz Gerges told Reuters that Iran is demonstrating to Washington its ability to threaten both strategic waterways simultaneously, transforming the conflict from a bilateral confrontation into a challenge to the maritime routes that underpin global energy trade.
“Iran is now escalating both near and far. The message is that not only Hormuz, but Bab el-Mandeb is also at risk,” Gerges said.
Houthis Have a History of Disrupting Red Sea Shipping
The Houthis have previously demonstrated their ability to disrupt global trade through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
After the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Iran-backed group launched attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, claiming to target ships linked to Israel.
The campaign forced major shipping companies to reroute vessels around southern Africa, significantly increasing transportation costs and prompting U.S.-British airstrikes as well as multinational naval operations to protect commercial shipping.
Andreas Krieg, Senior Lecturer at the King’s College London School of Security Studies, described the Houthis’ latest threat as another “nuclear option” for Iran after Hormuz—one that would likely be used only if the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) concluded that a return to full-scale war had become unavoidable.
However, Krieg warned that if Washington intensified strikes against Iran’s critical infrastructure, Tehran could respond by using its Yemeni allies to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, further exacerbating the economic disruption already caused by developments in the Strait of Hormuz.
Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Saudi Arabia-based Gulf Research Center, told Reuters that Gulf states increasingly believe diplomacy with Iran has reached its limits.
Sager added that while the Houthis still possess the capability to disrupt navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, they are unlikely to escalate without explicit direction from Tehran.
Any attempt by the Houthis to threaten maritime traffic could trigger a broader military response from the United States and its allies aimed at significantly degrading the group’s capabilities.
Meanwhile, Dennis Ross, a former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator, said that from Washington’s perspective, the key question is how to change Iran’s strategic calculations so that it is willing not merely to return to negotiations, but to genuinely agree to an acceptable settlement.
The conflict, which began in late February following military action by the United States and Israel, has already destabilized the Gulf region and spread across the wider Middle East. Iran has launched attacks on U.S. military bases in several countries, and thousands of people have been killed, particularly in Iran and Lebanon.***
