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Bab al-Mandeb Closure Threat
Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi militia to stand ready to close the Bab El-Mandeb oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, according to three sources told Reuters on Thursday.
“Iran asks Yemen's Houthis to close Bab el-Mandeb if U”
The conditional move was discussed within Iran’s leadership before being conveyed to Iran’s Houthi allies, and Reuters reported that the Houthis had been informed recently of Tehran’s request.
A source close to the Houthis said the group had completed preparations to attack shipping by deploying missiles and drones near Bab El-Mandeb, the gateway to the Red Sea, in Yemen’s highlands overlooking Hodeidah and the Gulf of Aden and was awaiting the order to begin.
Reuters also reported that representatives of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who are already in Yemen will control the decision on when to close the Bab El-Mandeb strait, as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
The request was framed as a potent new threat to global energy supplies because any Houthi attacks on vessels or ports in the Red Sea would disrupt the Middle East’s two main oil export routes simultaneously.
Trump Warning, Houthis Ready
The Reuters reporting cited a trigger tied to U.S. action, after US President Donald Trump’s threat to attack Iranian power infrastructure, with the sources not specifying whether Tehran’s message was conveyed before or after those remarks.
Trump told Fox News on July 15 that "next week comes the power plants" and that the United States would "knock out all their power plants, knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate," while Iran’s foreign minister Ali Baghaei responded the same day: "No plans for negotiations."
A source close to the Houthis told Reuters the group had "completed preparations" to attack shipping by deploying missiles and drones in Yemen’s highlands overlooking Hodeidah and the Gulf of Aden and was "awaiting the order."
The Hill, citing Reuters, said the Houthis are already preparing to attack shipping near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and that IRGC representatives in Yemen will control the decision to close the strait.
The Hill also reported that attacks on the Red Sea would disrupt the Middle East’s two main oil export routes while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and it said the route carries around 7 percent of the world’s energy supply.
Energy Stakes and Regional Risk
The reported Bab al-Mandeb contingency comes as the Strait of Hormuz is already effectively closed, and Reuters said the Red Sea now carries roughly seven per cent of global energy supplies after Gulf oil exports were diverted from Hormuz via Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipeline.
“Iran has reportedly instructed Yemen’s Houthi terrorists to prepare to close a critical Red Sea gateway if the United States attacks Iranian power infrastructure, Reuters reported, a threat experts warn could sharply disrupt global shipping even if the group cannot completely seal the waterway”
Xinhua, citing Reuters, said the Houthis had completed preparations to attack ships crossing Bab el-Mandeb by deploying missiles and drones near the strait, and that representatives of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps already in Yemen would control the decision on when to close it.
The Hill reported that Saudi Arabia has diverted 70 percent of its own energy exports through the Red Sea, and it warned that disruption of the transit path could become a larger issue for the energy crisis.
In parallel, Reuters reporting cited regional sources close to Saudi Arabia saying Riyadh was taking the threats from Iran and the Houthis seriously and believed the Houthis were coordinating closely with Tehran over developments in the Red Sea.
The Telegraph described the plan as a deliberate Iranian attempt to control “the other side of the Red Sea,” saying the Houthis are preparing to shut Bab el-Mandeb on behalf of Iran and that a closure would force shipping to take a weeks-long detour around the southern tip of Africa.
