“The Bab al-Mandab Strait is considered one of the strategic straits in the world, and Iran has the will to produce a completely credible threat against it,” an Iranian official told Tasnim.
Iran warned on Wednesday that it could “take action in the Bab al-Mandab Strait (connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean) if provoked,” the semiofficial IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency reported, citing a military source.
“If the enemy wants to take action on land in the Iranian islands or anywhere else in our lands or to inflict costs on Iran with naval movements in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, we will open other fronts as a surprise for him so that his action will not only not benefit him but will also double his costs,” Tasnim cited the official saying.
“The Bab al-Mandab Strait is considered one of the strategic straits in the world, and Iran has both the will and the possibility to produce a completely credible threat against it,” the official added.
The Bab al-Mandab Strait is located between Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea, with the Houthis terror group, which is one of the Iranian terror proxies, being on the Yemeni side.
Since October 7, the Houthis have been one of the main players in the aggressions against Israel, with the group not only attacking Israel but also compromising world commerce by targeting ships passing by the Strait.
HOUTHI TERRORISTS carry weapons as they stand near the site of Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, in September. (credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS)
Houthis making preemptive ‘moves’ in case of war
Al-Ain News in the UAE reported on Monday that the Houthi militias might be “carrying out extensive field movements in anticipation of any possible attack against them.”
The Houthis have escalated attacks within Yemen while “simultaneously bringing in new reinforcements to the front lines, in an attempt to test the defenses of the National Resistance Forces and the Yemeni Army,” the outlet reported.
The report reveals that the Houthis began major movements on March 15 on five frontlines, “including the western coastal fronts such as Hodeidah, Taiz, and Lahj in anticipation.”
Al-Ain says, “Various Yemeni forces have also raised their operational readiness levels, in light of the rapidly changing regional and international circumstances.”
Seth J. Frantzman contributed to this report.