Report: Iran Orders Houthis to Close Strategic Red Sea Strait if U.S. Escalates
Reuters: “A significant amount of Gulf oil has since been diverted to the Red Sea through a Saudi pipeline, and the waterway now carries around 7% of global energy supplies.”
Iran has ordered the Houthi terrorist group to close the Strategic Red Sea Strait of Bab el-Mandeb if the U.S. intensifies its military strikes in the wake of Iranian aggression, reports say. “Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure,” Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.
Bab el-Mandeb is a major maritime chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Highlighting the strategic importance of the strait, the news agency added that a “significant amount of Gulf oil has since been diverted to the Red Sea through a Saudi pipeline, and the waterway now carries around 7% of global energy supplies.”
The Telegraph, citing sources in Yemen, reports that the Houthis are preparing contingency plans to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in coordination with Iran if Tehran decides to escalate the conflict further.
According to the report, the Houthis are expanding ties with Somalia's… pic.twitter.com/2ugHuY5Wde
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 16, 2026
The new threat emerges after President Donald Trump, on Monday, ordered U.S. Central Command to take control of the Strait of Hormuz and reinstate its naval blockade against Iran. U.S. strikes are aimed at degrading Iran’s capabilities to threaten commercial shipping in the waterway, CENTCOM says.
Reuters reports exclusively:
Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, three sources told Reuters on Thursday, posing a potent new threat to global energy supplies.
The idea has been discussed within the Islamic Republic’s leadership, and the message has been conveyed to Iran’s Houthi allies, two senior Iranian sources and a regional source familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (…)
A source close to the Houthis said the group had completed preparations to attack shipping by deploying missiles and drones near Bab el-Mandeb strait, the gateway to the Red Sea, in Yemen’s highlands overlooking Hodeidah and the Gulf of Aden and was awaiting the order to begin. (…)
Representatives of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who are already in Yemen will control the decision on when to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait, said the source close to the Houthis.
US President Donald Trump said Iran "badly" wants a deal with Washington but stressed the US will decide whether to engage, warning Tehran it had "better behave." pic.twitter.com/4q4R86wMpq
— Firstpost (@firstpost) July 16, 2026
Iran may be threatening to close the Red Sea Strait to deter the U.S. from intensifying its military operation. “Next week it gets really bad for them,” Trump told Fox News. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
U.S. Air Force F-35A stealth fighter aircraft are refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker while flying patrols over the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/KSbmYTH2LT
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 16, 2026
On Wednesday night, the U.S. carried out another wave of strikes against Iran. “U.S. forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten innocent mariners crewing commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
As the CENTCOM-led operation entered its sixth consecutive day, the U.S. military struck Tehran for the first time, signaling a widening of the conflict. Sky News (UK) noted that “US attacks have expanded into the northern regions of Iran this morning, hitting areas around the capital Tehran.”
U.S. Central Command says its latest wave of strikes against Iran has been completed.
CENTCOM said U.S. forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten… pic.twitter.com/1NlgO7Bav9
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 16, 2026
According to Iranian state media on Thursday afternoon, the U.S also struck on the strategically located island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz. The island, key to Iran’s control over the strait, was struck on Sunday as well. The London-based Guardian reported:
Iranian news agencies have reported that the United States has launched strikes around Iran’s Gulf island of Qeshm near the strait of Hormuz, as renewed hostilities flared between Washington and Tehran.
Fars news agency reported an “American missile strike in the vicinity of Qeshm”, citing local authorities, while Tasnim news agency said one of its correspondents reported locations around Qeshm “were struck by projectiles from the American enemy”.
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Muslim pirates… Europe has hamstrung themselves as they can’t risk internal terror if they choose to not pay another jizya or fight the pirates. I say “another” as they are paying in human suffering for the crimes committed by their Muslim immigrants.
They are paying by giving them tons of free social programs as well and probably not requiring them to work. Its amusing because Germany originally important a ton of turks as a work force and it’s probably bit them in the ass now.
The only real question is whether they have the capability. I’m guessing they would have tried this sooner if it was a real possibility.
I’m guessing the Houthis do have a number of missiles and drones. While both Israel and the US bombed them the bombings were retaliatory in nature and not exhaustive. According to some perusing the Houthis assemble missiles and drones from components sourced from Iran. Therefore their supplies of them are likely limited but that is just a guess on my part.
This may be a serious strategic error. Really, is there anything in Yemen that we might be reluctant to break?
My point exactly. Yemen doesn’t get the latitude that Iran does. Yemen is a member of the UN in name only. They are both a leech and an unstable region.
Can’t wait to see Iran’s terrorist pawns blown away.
If I’m recalling correctly Yemen has a government and then there are the Houthis, If I’m remembering correctly there is stuff we wouldn’;t want to break. The Saudis were fighting the Houthis for quite a while and there was some noise about improprieties on the part of the Saudis but I’m not recalling the details.
I don’t think there is much in Yemen to break.
Well, Trump pulled Israel off from finishing the job
Thomas Jefferson and the US military were fighting Muslim terrorists in 1801, and, 225 years later, we’re still fighting them.
The main difference is that now, Jefferson’s party is welcoming Islamofascists and Muslim supporters of terrorism into its ranks and leadership.
Vance is a loose canon.
“JD Vance accuses Israel of secret plot against him and drops Mossad-Epstein bombshell in explosive Joe Rogan interview”
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15980465/jd-vance-israel-epstein-mossad-rogan.html
The parsing of words there is doing a lot of heavy lifting. He is saying they are financiers of the Soros variety but opposite pushing us into ongoing war.
I wouldnt doubt that at all. However, the “plot against him” part sounds like hyperbole.
Finally, the Epstein stuff tracks with what we’ve heard about his state ties.
I posted this yesterday. Vance is not to be trusted by any Israel supporter
And he still speaks highly of Tucker
And admitted he was not in support of the war in Iran… oh, but he is now
Please Rubio, do not shy away from running for President. Vance can not be trusted
Vance is quoting Time magazine which is a progressive magazine these days and therefore likely anti-Israel. Kind of weird for him to do that.
Has there been a campaign against Vance. The most I’ve seen has been questioning his ties to TC.
He says its Israel funded by provides no proof,
He says he’s been branded an antisemite but I haven’t seen that.
If Israeli figures are manipulating American opinion they are doing a pretty piss poor job of it, The manipulation I see is by the muslims and their patsies,
He says Epstein had ties to Mossad or CIA or both but provides no evidence and states he is a conspiracy theorist, He basically says he can’t prove anything he says.
If this article is true Vance comes across as pretty unhinged, I’m sort of surprised. I wonder if was drinking frankly. I would have expected him to be more tight lipped about what he thought. He’s not Trump after all.
I don’t see quotes from him that support the article’s claims.
You’re wasting your time with these people who are now certan Vance is a RINO in MAGA clothing. These are the same people who called DeSantis atraitor and weak. They have no proof of anything but spout off about it anyway.
Maybe you should listen to the 3 hour interview like I did
He did sound unhinged. I listened to the full 3 hour interview
The Israelis were probably doing just what Vance said. He probably said it to warn them not to do it again.
Doing what? Working with Epstein or manipulating public opinion or casting aspersions on Vance? I addressed each of those above. What evidence do you have for any of them?
The Israelis have been relatively straightforward about Iran and Lebanon as far as I can tell. They’ve stated their opinions which should come as no surprise to anyone here. In fact they match the opinions of many here.
1/ Mossad looks for All the Ways to blackmail; so yeah, I have no doubt they maintained high level ties with Epstein to get dirt.
2/”figures’ inside the Israeli government are manipulating American public opinion to keep the war going ‘indefinitely.'” … its no secret Israel wants the IRGC gone and thinks the US cant trust them.
but… if it were put to a vote, the war is deeply unpopular. So, even if the Israeli government is “manipulating” public opinion (very hard to do in today’s ADHD social media environment), they aren’t successful.
Vance is not going to be the next President.
1) Speculation based upon the boggy man de jour – mossad.
2) Exactly. I agree. They want regime change. At one time Trump wanted that too before he
didn’t. They don’t trust Iran because they are untrustworthy in the extreme. At one time Trump didn’t trust them either before he did after which he didn’t. I need a real time program to keep up.
The war is unpopular because the radical left has latched onto in and because Israel has done a bad job of framing the issues. I wouldn’t call this manipulation personally.
I have no idea who the next president is going to be. It can’t be a democrat as far as I’m concerned.
Pro-Israel Catholics might consider commenting here:
https://zeale.co/news/articles/go-to-hell-i-represent-americans-first-vance-blasts-israeli-influence-campaign-attacking-me-obsessively
I couldn’t figure out how to post on that site
But found this is the article
Vance was so out there but I have to think Trump
Must of been aware of what he was going to say, I don’t know… if Vance spilled his bowl, well, we will soon know, cause Trump will not tolerate that, even from
His VP
He’ll sideline him and promote Rubio singularly, what I want him to do
Really , it was almost like hearing Tucker speak
“Vance was careful to say he wasn’t accusing Israel’s government as a whole, noting he has close relationships with some officials there, including Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Still, Vance maintained that a subset of Israeli officials is actively working to keep the war ongoing.
“There are some people within their system we know beyond a shadow of a doubt who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely,” he said. “Again, not towards any objective, but just indefinitely.”
Israel has us, the USA and that’s about it. No way compared to France or GB anymore
Hair is standing on my head
We can eliminate them AND THE BLOWFISH!!!!! 🙂
I kinda like Darius Rucker.
If the Houthis decide to enter the game they are playing right into the Marine Force Recon unit that actually looks forward to people like them. This is not Iran and its vast area, it is a small group trying to act big. The Marines will eat them for lunch. Just remember Venezuela and how that went down.
No boots on the ground unless it is a mission like the one in Venezuela. Bomb them silly or better yet get the Saudis to bomb then silly and save our ordinance for Iran.
Further proof of how much Iran is suffering.
Dear Houthis, please save us! 😎
Proxies have always been a useful tool in Iran’s toolbox. They’ve used them for 40 years.
And if the Houthis ignore it – or only make a token gesture – what then? What leverage (if any) does Iran have on the Houthi?
This announcement by the Iranians seems to be aimed primarily at generating apocalyptic headlines in the Communist media in the West.
Iran is their patron. Funds them and supplies them with weapons much like they do with Hezbollah and Hamas and God knows how many more nutty groups. Also likely provides them with guidance and intelligence and probably provides a lot of their strategy,
Gratitude? I doubt there is THAT much honor among Islamofascists. The Houthis have their own troubles and nothing to gain by helping the Iranians. From their point of view it is better to lay low and let the Americans and Iranians duke it out.
Besides: in general genocidal totalitarians don’t stick their necks out for each other.
They used to have monetary power over them. I don’t know how much of that funding is getting through now.
If they start hitting ships it may be time to whack the Houthi tribes with massive Napalm bombardment. Burn their villages to the ground. No survivors.
That would be a war crime, and would get whoever ordered it and whoever carried it out prosecuted and imprisoned.
Oh goodie. Let’s take out all of the scum at once. 👏👏👏👏👏
Air Operations Center: “Well, it’s a good thing we already have them on our target list, then. Let’s have a re-prioritization meeting in the main room in 30 minutes.”
Can the oil go north through the Suez Canal? Or do the Saudi need a pipeline to Israel?
Oh please, we’ve heard that one before. So if you’re going to do it just stop with all the talk and fecking do it. And apparently he still hasn’t learned the lesson that you cannot negotiate with the Iranian regime and the Arab terrorists. Great Maker, you’d think he would have figured that one out by now. But apparently not.
Mr. President, it is past time to put an end to ALL these devil worshipers; The minute they stick their head up, chop it off. Otherwise we’ll be fighting another forever war.
A word to the Houthis: Should you play the role of Iran’s little bu++-boys and try to shut down shipping in the Red Sea, it’s fairly certain the United States will turn our “attention” to you, as well, and when that happens, try not to run – you’ll only die tired.
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