Houthis to copy Iran's Hormuz playbook with Red Sea toll plan
Yemeni government officials report that Houthi forces, with Iranian assistance, are planning to impose tolls on commercial vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb strait. This move mirrors Iran's strategy in the Strait of Hormuz and threatens to further disrupt global energy supply chains.
Why it matters
The potential monetization of a critical maritime chokepoint by a militia group poses a severe risk to international shipping costs and global energy market stability.
The Houthi armed group is working with Iran to charge ships to transit the Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea, threatening another waterway after Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a minister in Yemen's internationally recognised government said on Wednesday.The Bab el-Mandeb, a narrow maritime artery in the Red Sea whose name means "Gate of Tears" in Arabic, has been a critical route for delivering crude to the international market after Tehran's attacks and threats choked off Gulf energy exports via Hormuz.The move was "a dangerous escalation aimed at transforming one of the world's most strategic maritime corridors into a permanent source of funding for the militia's military and terrorist activities," Yemen's Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said.Eryani said the assessment was based on recently obtained "confirmed intelligence" indicating that Iran's IRGC were helping to manage the effort."The intelligence indicates that IRGC experts and advisers are directly involved in designing…
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