Iran has asked its Houthi allies in Yemen to stand ready to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea, if the United States follows through on President Donald Trump’s threat to attack Iranian power plants and bridges, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya emergency command responded to Trump’s threats, saying: “We will not allow America, a foreign power from outside our region, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz. If his latest threats, including attacks on Iranian infrastructure, are carried out, all infrastructure in the region will be destroyed by powerful strikes from Iranian forces.”
Representatives of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are already in Yemen; Houthi rebels
(Photo: Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
A source close to the Houthis told Reuters that the group had completed preparations to attack shipping by deploying missiles and drones near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and was awaiting the order to begin.
The source said representatives of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps already in Yemen would control the decision on whether and when the Houthis launch attacks on ships.
With the Strait of Hormuz already closed, a crisis around Bab el-Mandeb could sharply worsen the global energy crisis and increase the risk of a new round of fighting between the United States and Iran. Any attacks on vessels or ports in the Red Sea would disrupt the Middle East’s two main oil export routes at the same time.
Tensions also rose this week between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. The Houthis fired hypersonic missiles at airports in the kingdom in response to Saudi strikes on the airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which is controlled by the Iran-aligned rebels.
Reuters cited two regional sources close to Riyadh as saying Saudi Arabia was taking threats from Iran and the Houthis very seriously. They added that the kingdom was aware the Yemeni group was closely coordinating with Iran over the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.