Tensions Have Flared Up Around Hormuz Again. Now Iran is Signaling that A Key Red Sea Gateway Could Be Next

Source: International Business Times

Mohammed al-Farah, a member of the political bureau of the Houthi movement, said Yemen's armed forces were prepared to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if Saudi Arabia continued military operations against Yemen. Photo by AFP via Getty Images/Getty Iran is signaling that it may expand pressure on global shipping beyond the Strait of Hormuz by leveraging its Houthi allies in Yemen to threaten the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Together, the two chokepoints are among the world's most strategically important shipping lanes, carrying significant amounts of oil and commercial cargo.