Iran threatens to close 2nd key waterway in Red Sea using Yemeni Houthis if US attacks infrastructure

The Iranian regime is threatening to use the Houthi terrorists in Yemen to shut down another key waterway to escalate the conflict with the U.S. in case its infrastructure is attacked, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The report came just days after the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia, ending the truce that has held since March 2022 and raising the threat of engulfing the region in a broader war again.

The kingdom had bombed a Houthi airport to prevent the landing of an Iranian plane, which violated a long-standing blockade to prevent the Iranian proxy from receiving weapons.

All of this came against the background of the reignited exchanges of fire between the U.S., which has struck hundreds of targets in Iran as retaliation for attacks on shipping in the Hormuz Strait, and the regime in Tehran, which hit back by striking several countries around the region, ostensibly targeting U.S. bases there.

Trump told Fox News on Wednesday, “We're going to knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate” – which apparently spooked the regime.

The Telegraph, citing sources in Yemen, reports that the Houthis are preparing contingency plans to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in coordination with Iran if Tehran decides to escalate the conflict further.

According to the report, the Houthis are expanding ties with Somalia's… pic.twitter.com/2ugHuY5Wde

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On Thursday, two senior Iranian sources and a regional source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Tehran has asked the Houthis to prepare to resume firing on shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the southern gate of the Red Sea which carries 10 to 12 percent of the world’s maritime trade.

A closure of Bab el-Mandeb, at the same time as the Hormuz Strait, which used to carry a fifth of the world's oil trade, would give the regime significant power to harm the world economy – powerful leverage against the Trump administration, which is preparing for midterm elections.

The sources did not specify whether the Iranian message was conveyed before or after Trump’s threat; however, the Houthis reportedly quickly deployed missiles and drones to the mountains overlooking the waterway and are prepared to act.

In addition, The Telegraph reported that the Houthis are in contact with the Somali terror group al-Shabab to coordinate the closure from the other side of the strait, as well.

“There are a lot of indicators showing coordination between the Houthis and al-Shabab,” one source told The Telegraph. “This coordination is aimed at totally controlling and blocking the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb when Iran decides in the future.”

“The Houthis are transferring drone technology to al-Shabab on behalf of Iran, so the Houthis are becoming the leaders of the region,” the source added.

These developments came within days of the exchange of fire between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Both sides had fought a bloody war since March 2015 that ended with a truce in 2022. Since then, the Houthis have launched ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, but refrained from attacking Saudi Arabia.

However, on Monday, the spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said the kingdom’s military intercepted missiles “launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward the southern region.”

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the missiles aimed at the international airport in Abha, the capital of a mountainous southern region near the Yemeni border.

The fire exchange was caused by an Iranian plane approaching Sanaa airport, violating a Saudi blockade. The Saudi-supported Yemeni government, which doesn’t have an air force, later claimed airstrikes that targeted the airport. However, the Iranian plane was diverted and later landed in Hodeidah.

A Yemeni source opposed to the Houthis told Israel’s Ynet News: “The airstrikes were a response to an Iranian violation of the airspace over Yemen – which the Saudi-led coalition had prohibited for flights… The strike did indeed prevent it from landing and forced it to change its location. But the strike neither achieved nor will achieve anything except an attempt to appease those who support the [Saudi-led] coalition and the legitimate government.”