An Iranian official on Wednesday suggested that Yemen’s Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, could close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, if the US launches ground operations against Iran.
So far, the Houthis, who govern an area of Yemen where most of the population lives, have not entered the war, but the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, has affirmed a “military readiness” based on the “development of events” in the region.
Both the US and Israel failed to put an end to the Houthis’ Red Sea blockade on Israeli shipping, which it imposed in response to Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. The Houthis only ended the blockade after the US-backed Gaza ceasefire deal was signed in October.
An Iranian official speaking to Iran’s Tasnim news agency said that Tehran is “constantly monitoring and keeping an eye on the enemy front’s preparations and developments.” The comments come as the US is sending thousands more troops to the region in preparations for a potential operation aimed at seizing Iran’s Kharg Island or Iranian ports and oil infrastructure.
“If the enemy wants to take action on land in the Iranian islands or anywhere else in our lands or to inflict costs on Iran with naval movements in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, we will open other fronts for them as a surprise so that their action will not only be of no benefit to them but will also double their costs,” the Iranian official said.
“The Bab al-Mandab Strait is considered one of the world’s strategic straits, and Iran has both the will and the ability to create a completely credible threat against it. Therefore, if the Americans want to think of a solution for the Strait of Hormuz with stupid measures, they should be careful not to add another strait to their problems and predicaments,” the official added.
Shutting down maritime traffic through the Red Sea would significantly exacerbate the global economic fallout and spike in oil prices caused by the US-Israeli attack on Iran and Tehran’s steps to shut down the Strait of Hormuz to the vast majority of traffic.
Iranian officials have also made clear that they’re preparing militarily for potential US ground attacks and are ready to face US troops. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, suggested on Wednesday that one of the US’s Gulf Arab allies would be involved in a US attempt to seize Iran’s islands and warned of severe consequences.
“According to certain data, Iran’s enemies, with the support of one of the regional countries, are preparing an operation to occupy one of Iran’s islands,” he wrote on X in Arabic. “All enemy movements are under the supervision of our armed forces. If they take any step, all vital infrastructure of that regional country will be targeted relentlessly, without limitation.”
