Three sources told Reuters on July 16 that Iran has instructed Yemen’s Houthis to close the Red Sea to shipping if the US attacks Iran’s power network, which President Donald Trump threatened to do in a July 14 interview. A source close to the Houthis added that the Iran-backed terror group has placed drones and missiles in position to attack vessels in the Bab al Mandeb Strait, the chokepoint at the southern end of the Red Sea. The Houthis refrained from attacking commercial shipping earlier in the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
The Red Sea has become a critical alternative route for Persian Gulf states’ energy exports following the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly 7 percent of the global oil output transited Bab al Mandeb in June, according to Kpler, a maritime trade analytics firm. In particular, Saudi Arabia has been rerouting its oil exports from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea via its east-west cross-country pipeline, with shipments departing from Yanbu Port. Other products are trucked across the Saudi desert for export via commercial ports.
Abdulmalik al Houthi, the leader of the Yemeni terror group, delivered a speech on July 16 in which he focused primarily on the Houthi-Saudi Arabia dynamic rather than a potential escalation in the Red Sea. The Houthis threatened airlines not to use Saudi airspace on July 14, and Abdulmalik reiterated threats to Saudi Arabia in his speech. “The real equation is Sana’a Airport for Riyadh Airport, airports for airports, ports for ports, and a blockade for a Saudi blockade,” Houthi said, adding, “All Saudi oil facilities and vital installations are targets for our missiles and drones if they embroil themselves in a full-scale aggression against our country and escalate the situation.”
On July 13, Saudi Arabia launched an airstrike on Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-controlled capital to prevent the landing of a flight from Tehran that was returning a Houthi delegation to slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral. The internationally recognized government (IRG) of Yemen and officials in Riyadh object to direct Tehran-Sanaa flights, which would enable Iran to arm and support its proxy in Yemen. For roughly a decade, Saudi Arabia has maintained an air blockade of Houthi-controlled airports that permits some civilian flights but prevents direct Iranian flights.
Houthi also reiterated his group’s stated blockade of Israeli vessels from using the Bab al Mandeb Strait, which connects to the southern Israeli port city of Eilat. The Houthis initially announced this ban in early June during a ceasefire between the US and Iran, after the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state exchanged attacks over Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. However, the Houthi leader did not announce any new aggression in the Red Sea.
On July 17, the Houthis held marches across their territory under the title, “Friday of Warning and Mobilization.” The group organizes regular demonstrations to portray unity and support from the population in its territory. However, Yemenis are often coerced into attending, with Houthi-selected supervisors monitoring individuals’ participation and tying it to their salaries.
