After Hormuz,Iran turns to Red Sea gateway as pressure point

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Having choked off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is now signaling it could play its most dangerous card yet: using Yemen's Houthi allies to shut the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, opening a new front against Washington and putting two of the world's most vital energy arteries at risk.

Posted by LampLighter at 08:33 PM | 5 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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More from the article ...

... As U.S. strikes deepen inside Iran and Houthi attacks escalate in tandem, analysts say Tehran is widening the conflict and seeking to increase pressure on Washington by extending the threat to global trade and energy supplies beyond the Gulf.

Iran has already demonstrated the power of its most valuable strategic asset by disrupting traffic through Hormuz.

Now it appears ready to open a second pressure point at Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden through which Saudi oil exports and a substantial share of global shipping pass.

A senior Yemeni official warned on Monday that the country's armed forces were prepared to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait - a move he said could send oil prices soaring to $200 a barrel -- if Saudi Arabia continued to attack Yemen, according to a report on Iran's Press TV website. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-15 08:36 PM | Reply

OK, I am the first to admit that I am still learning the details of the geography of the Middle East.

But I have to ask ...

... Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden through which Saudi oil exports and a substantial share of global shipping pass. ...

Is that a subtle way of saying the Suez Canal?

If so, ...

This disagreement may be moving to a new level.

#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-15 08:39 PM | Reply

Is that a subtle way of saying the Suez Canal?

It's the on/off ramp for the Suez. I don't think the Houthis have been all that effective trying to close it. And there is always a (very long) alternate route.

#3 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-07-15 08:58 PM | Reply

@#3 ... I don't think the Houthis have been all that effective trying to close it. ...

That seems to be the operative question at this point.

#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-07-15 09:31 PM | Reply

Is that a subtle way of saying the Suez Canal?
#2 | Posted by LampLighter

The Suez connects the Red Sea in the north to the Mediterranean. Bab al-Mandab connects the Red Sea in the south to the Indian Ocean. From a global shipping perspective cutting off either point forces ships to take the longer round around Africa which adds about a week and half to two weeks to the voyage.
Bab al-Mandab has taken on an elevated level of importance to global petroleum trade because Saudi Arabia has increased exports through eastern ports on the Red Sea since the closure of Hormuz. Bab al-Mandab is critical in getting Saudi oil to the global market because of distance to travel but also because the Suez has limited capacity. Fully loaded supertankers cannot navigate the Suez. That would force SA to use smaller ships or offload the supertankers at the SUMED pipeline and refill in the Mediterranean.

#5 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2026-07-15 11:39 PM | Reply