Iran to block another key global oil route, Reuters reports

Iran may move to shut Red Sea oil route

Iran has asked Yemen's Houthi movement to be ready to close a key oil shipping route through the Red Sea if the United States strikes Iranian energy infrastructure, three sources told Reuters on July 16.

The move could create a new threat to global energy supplies. According to anonymous sources in Iran and the region, Tehran has conveyed the idea to the Houthis and instructed them to prepare for such a scenario.

Houthis positioned near Bab el-Mandeb Strait

A source close to the Houthis said the group has completed preparations for attacks on shipping. They have deployed missiles and drones near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and are awaiting orders, Reuters reported.

Members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are already in Yemen and would oversee any decision to close the strategic waterway, according to the source.

The Houthis recently launched missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport. The strikes broke a four-year truce in the conflict between the two sides.

What a blockade of the strait could mean for the world

Any threat to the Red Sea and its gateway at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could significantly deepen the global energy crisis already triggered by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Houthi attacks on ships or ports in the Red Sea would disrupt two of the Middle East's most important oil export routes at the same time. According to Reuters, this would open a new front in both the energy crisis and the broader confrontation between Iran and the United States.

Closing Bab el-Mandeb would be relatively easy

Shutting down the strait would not be difficult, a source told Reuters.

"Anybody with a firing rifle can interrupt the shipping. You don't have to have sophisticated ⁠missiles to ​interrupt the shipping."

Iran views the Houthis as part of its regional Axis of Resistance, which also includes Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite armed groups.

These groups have already become involved in the regional confrontation between Tehran and Washington, while the Houthis have not officially entered the conflict.

The United States says Iran has provided the Houthis with weapons, funding, training, and support through Hezbollah.

Tehran denies those allegations.

As previously reported, Iran could seek to block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to replicate its move in the Strait of Hormuz, opening a new front against the United States.

On July 14, the United States launched a new wave of strikes against Iran while also restoring a naval blockade of Iranian ports and coastal areas.