Houthis Seek To Copy Iran’s Hormuz Strategy By Disrupting Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Yemen’s Houthi movement is trying to replicate Iran’s strategy in the Strait of Hormuz by disrupting shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

“The Houthis want to copy the Iranian model and this will shut down two main straits, the gateways into the Gulf and Red Sea,” Foreign Minister-designate Afrah Al-Zouba told a small group of journalists at the Yemeni embassy in Riyadh.

Al-Zouba said the Houthis had been encouraged by what she described as an insufficient international response to their actions.

Her comments come as tensions between the Iran-backed Houthis, Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognised government continue to rise, increasing concerns over security in the Red Sea, a key route for global trade.

The Houthis have declared a maritime blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea and launched missiles and drones at the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes on what it said were Houthi military facilities and said it would protect commercial shipping, accusing the Houthis of serving foreign agendas.

The escalation has also raised fears of renewed conflict in Yemen, where war broke out after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Saudi Arabia later led an Arab coalition military campaign against the group.

Although a truce was reached in 2022, recent cross-border attacks have increased tensions. Saudi officials, Western diplomats and Yemeni officials now believe a return to full-scale war is more likely than at any time since the ceasefire began.

Al-Zouba said Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, was prepared for further escalation.

She said exchanges of fire were taking place along front lines stretching from the Red Sea coast to the Saudi border, but neither side had launched a major offensive.

“We think that this conflict now needs to come to an end, either via peaceful means, or the other way,” she said.

Al-Zouba’s warning focused on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Like the Strait of Hormuz, it is one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. Around 30% of global container traffic and 12% to 15% of global trade passes through the Red Sea.

Yemen’s western coastline gives whoever controls it significant influence over shipping moving through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

According to data cited by Yemen’s internationally recognised government, shipping through the Red Sea is already slowing, with only 11 commodity vessels passing through the route on Sunday.

The recent tensions mark the biggest escalation since the 2022 truce.

Earlier this month, the Houthis announced a maritime siege targeting shipping to and from Saudi Arabia before launching missiles and drones at the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia later carried out airstrikes on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah. Nearly 20 fighters from both sides were killed earlier this month during clashes around Hodeidah.

The conflict began after the Houthis captured Sanaa in 2014, forcing then-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to eventually flee to Riyadh. Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition campaign against the Houthis from 2015 until the truce in 2022.

As of 2026, the Houthis remain in control of Sanaa and other parts of Yemen. At the same time, tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which Riyadh accuses of supporting a southern separatist group in Yemen, have also affected developments on the ground.

The war has had a devastating impact on civilians. An estimated 377,000 people died between 2015 and the beginning of 2022, most of them due to indirect effects of the conflict such as famine and disease.

References: Reuters, Al Jazeera