Yemen's FM says Houthis using Bab al-Mandab to mirror Iran's pressure in Strait of Hormuz

Yemen's foreign minister-designate warns that Houthis aim to replicate Iran's Hormuz Strait strategy in the Red Sea by disrupting shipping in Bab al-Mandab, emboldened by insufficient international response. The Red Sea has become a new front in the Iran war, with Houthi escalation against Saudi Arabia threatening a return to full-scale conflict in Yemen.

Yemen's foreign minister-designate Afrah Al-Zouba warned on Monday that the Houthi movement aims to replicate Iran's strategy in the Strait of Hormuz by disrupting shipping in the Bab al-Mandab strait, emboldened by an insufficient international response. Speaking at the Yemeni embassy in Riyadh, she said the Houthis want to copy the Iranian model, which would shut down two main straits—gateways into the Gulf and Red Sea. The Red Sea has become a new front in the Iran war, with Houthis taking an escalatory approach against Saudi Arabia by firing missiles and drones and declaring a blockade on Saudi shipping. Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes on Houthi military facilities and vowed to protect commercial shipping, accusing the Houthis of serving foreign agendas. The escalation threatens to bring back full-scale conflict to Yemen, where war killed hundreds of thousands after the Houthis stormed Sanaa in 2014. A 2022 truce has been pierced by recent cross-border fire, and officials see a return to war as more likely now than at any point since then. Zouba said Yemen's government was prepared for escalation but neither side had yet mounted an offensive, adding that the conflict needs to end either via peaceful means or the other way.