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progree

(12,928 posts)
1. Maybe we'll end up with 2 straits closed -- add the Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Mon Mar 16, 2026, 04:10 AM
Monday
Another strait to get shut after Hormuz? Houthis ready to pull trigger in Iran war, India Today, 3/14/26
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/another-strait-to-get-shut-after-hormuz-houthis-ready-to-pull-trigger-in-iran-war/ar-AA1YDJWf

. . .
The Houthis, who were curiously staying out of the war on Iran, have just said that their "fingers are on the trigger". They said they were "ready to respond at any moment should developments warrant it". Experts have suggested Houthis to be part of "Iran's three-stage strategy" in the region.

Simultaneously, Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported that the Houthis and other "resistance groups" were on full alert and might join Tehran's ongoing fight, warning that it could lead to closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passage at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula that controls traffic for sea vessels accessing the Suez Canal via the Red Sea.

. . .
The Bab el-Mandeb links the Red Sea and effectively the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, and further to the Atlantic Ocean. The route is key to the Asia-Europe trade. If the Houthis, who have long threatened and even tried to choke Bab el-Mandeb, move to block the route, the fallout could be as severe, especially at a time when the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf remains choked amid the war.
. . .




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