Iran Expands Oil Chokepoint Threat as Houthis Eye Red Sea Shipping

Iran has instructed Yemen’s Houthis to prepare to disrupt the Red Sea oil route if the United States attacks Iranian power infrastructure. Missiles and drones have reportedly been deployed near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with Houthi forces awaiting an order (reportedly from the IRGC itself) to begin attacks on shipping as of late Thursday. This is a pincer movement by Tehran on the oil routes, building on Hormuz leverage by adding the Houthis into the mix to threaten the southern entrance to the Red Sea and the Bab El-Mandeb Strait that the…