Yemen's Houthi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Al Saree said the Iran-backed group would blockade the navigation of "enemy ships" in the Red Sea.
"We declare a complete ban on enemy navigation in the Red Sea and we consider any Zionist movements to be military targets for our forces," he said in a televised statement on Monday, hours after Israel and Iran exchanged strikes. "We will respond to escalation with escalation and our operations will intensify in line with the battle and in conjunction with the axis of jihad and resistance."
Despite direct US intervention, Israel launched a wave of attacks across Iran on Monday in response to overnight Iranian strikes on Israel. The missile barrage marked Iran's first large direct strikes on Israel since the ceasefire began in April and represented a major escalation after months of relative restraint.
Iran has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil normally flows, since Israel and the US first attacked the country in February. Tehran has now signalled through the Houthi rebels that it could also attempt to blockade the Bab Al Mandeb strait, the narrow gateway to the Red Sea.
Together, the two straits form a single corridor linking energy exports from the Middle East to Europe and other markets. If both waterways are compromised, the effects would extend far beyond the region, hitting supply chains, energy markets and shipping costs worldwide.
The Houthis, who control parts of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, have spent the past two years demonstrating their ability to strike maritime targets. Using drones, mines, anti-ship missiles and explosive boats, the group attacked commercial vessels during the Red Sea crisis of 2023 and 2024, forcing major shipping companies to divert to alternative routes.
The Bab Al Mandeb strait, a 29km-wide passage between Yemen on one side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the other, sits at the southern end of the Red Sea. About a 10th of global trade passes through it, including oil, gas and container traffic moving between Asia and Europe. The strait is divided into two channels by Mayyun Island – a narrower eastern channel used by smaller vessels and a wider western channel used by large commercial traffic.
Ships entering the strait slow down, funnel into predictable lanes and pass within range of Yemen’s coastline. That leaves them well within reach of small-boat attacks and shore-based missiles and drones.
The two straits are not neighbours, but they are sequential chokepoints on the same artery. If the Strait of Hormuz is blocked, oil struggles to leave the Gulf. If shipping through Bab Al Mandeb is disrupted, energy struggles to reach Europe. If both are affected, the route breaks end to end. That is why the combination of blockades is far more dangerous than one of the routes being disrupted alone.
