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Iran threatens to close Strait of Hormuz, impacts global oil prices
� Lauren Simonetti details escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran threatens to block shipping lanes and impose new conditions.This move follows reports of vessels being struck by Iranian drones since March.The uncertainty surrounding the vital waterway has led to a 2% drop in crude oil prices, affecting the global market.
Iran has reportedly instructed Yemen’s Houthi terrorists to prepare to close a criticalRed Sea gatewayif the United States attacks Iranian power infrastructure, Reuters reported, a threat experts warn could sharply disrupt global shipping even if the group cannot completely seal the waterway.
“This threat should be taken seriously,�“With recent escalation and U.S.strikes on Iran, Tehran has already signaled that the Bab al-Mandab could become part of its response.”
Three sources told Reuters on Thursday that Iran’s leadership had discussed using the Houthis to shut the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and recently conveyed the request to the group.A source close to the Houthis said missiles and drones had been deployed near the waterway and that the group was awaiting an order to begin attacking shipping.
IRAN-BACKED TERROR PROXY HOUTHIS THREATEN FRESH ATTACKS AFTER YEMEN AIRPORT STRIKE
A Houthi follower during a pro-Iran demonstration, in Sanaa, Yemen, April 6, 2026.(Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)
“It will be interesting if the Houthis do go all in, and resume their campaign against Red Sea shipping with full intensity,” Fitton-Brown said.“This will draw international anger and likely result in Israeli and U.S.strikes on Sana’a and Hodeida.”
“There is potential for a general escalation if this happens, albeit one in which the allies have a clear military advantage,” he added.
Al-Dawsari said the Houthis have continued developing the weapons needed to threaten the narrow shipping corridor despite largely refraining from maritime attacks over the past year.
“While the Houthis have largely refrained from attacking shipping for about a year, they have continued to advance their maritime capabilities, including missiles, drones and sea mines,” she said.“They may not be able to fully close the strait, but they could significantly disrupt shipping and raise costs and risks for commercial traffic.”
US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ
This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows Houthi forces boarding the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on Nov.19, 2023.(Houthi Media Center via AP)
But the group would not necessarily need to physically control the waterway.Its previous missile and drone campaign demonstrated that repeated attacks — or even a credible threat of them — can push major shipping companies to reroute vessels around Africa, driving up insurance, fuel and freight costs.
The Bab el-Mandeb connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, making it one of the world’s most important maritime choke points.The consequences of renewed attacks would be especially severe because Iran has already disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, historically the principal route for roughly one-fifth of global energy supplies.
A substantial volume of Gulf oil has consequently been redirected through Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.Reuters reported that the Bab el-Mandeb route now carries approximately 7% of global energy supplies and that Saudi Arabia has shifted about 70% of its energy exports through Yanbu.
The reported instructions also raise new questions about how much control Tehran exercises over major Houthi military decisions.
In this image provided by the U.S.Navy, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall and amphibious assault ship USS Bataan transit the Bab al-Mandeb strait on Aug.9, 2023.(Mass Communications Spc.2nd Class Moises Sandoval/U.S.Navy via AP)
“Any decision to escalate in the Bab al-Mandab would be strategic and tied more to the interests of Iran and the Axis of Resistance than to Houthi interests alone,” Al-Dawsari said.“Decisions of this magnitude are likely coordinated through the Axis’ joint operations room under IRGC oversight.”
A source close to the Houthis claimed representatives of Iran’sIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corpsin Yemen would control the timing of any move against the strait, Reuters reported.
The latest warning followsearlier Houthi threatsagainst maritime traffic.In theEXPERT WARNS OF ‘GENERAL ESCALATION’ OF FIGHTING IF HOUTHIS RESUME RED SEA CAMPAIGN
A satellite imagery shows Bab el Mandeb Strait, a key shipping waterway and the gateway to the Red Sea, in this handout picture dated July 12, 2026.(Nasa Worldview/Handout via Reuters)
�unacceptable” and “dangerous,” warning that they could inflame regional tensions and further disrupt global supply chains.
U.N.Secretary-General António Guterres has “repeatedly condemned�
“Any disruptions or attacks would endanger the safety and security of seafarers, freedom of navigation and the stability of global supply chains and have a negative impact on the economic and humanitarian situation in Yemen and beyond,” Dujarric said.“The Secretary-General underscores that U.N.Security Council Resolution 2722 (2024) must be fully respected in its entirety,” he said on the resolution condemning at least two dozen Houthis attacks on commercial vessels since November 2023 and demanding an immediate end to the attacks.
The emerging threat has also renewed scrutiny of theIranian weapons networksthat helped build the Houthis’ missile and drone arsenal.
Amr Al-Bidh, foreign affairs chief of the Southern Arabian Transitional Council, said that the reported threat also exposed broader failures in the handling of Yemen’s security crisis.“The fact that individuals convicted of trafficking Iranian weapons to the Houthis and leading terrorist operations are now being released under a U.N.-brokered deal only underscores how poorly the Yemen crisis is being managed,” he said, “the main beneficiary of this vacuum is Iran, as seen in its credible threat to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait.”
N.Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg that a U.N.-facilitated detainee agreement may include people the council says were convicted of assisting Iranian weapons transfers to the Houthis.
A missile is launched from a warship during the U.S.-led coalition operation against military targets in Yemen, aimed at the Iran-backed Houthi militia that has been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea, in this handout picture released on Jan.12, 2024.(US Central Command via X/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo)
onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.
An annex identifies individuals the council alleges were members of a cell that smuggled drones, aviation fuel and heavy and medium weapons from Iran to Sanaa.
The Office of the U.N.Special Envoy for Yemen said it received the letter only after the agreement had already been signed and stressed that it does not determine which detainees are released.
“We have received the letter after the agreement was signed,�“The United Nations – as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – do not decide who is released and who remains in detention.Our role is limited to mediating the negotiations and ICRC leads on the implementation of the release operation.”
Palla added that “the names of those released are proposed and agreed between the parties under the framework of the Stockholm Agreement on prisoners’ exchange of 2018.”
� Paul Tilsley and Reuters contributed to this report.
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