The Islamic Republic is pushing its Houthi proxy in Yemen to launch renewed attacks in the Red Sea if the U.S. military campaign against Tehran continues, European officials familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Monday.
Houthi leaders are weighing their options for more aggressive action after launching a first salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Saturday, a month into the conflict with Tehran, the unnamed officials said.
One of the officials said that an attempted American military takeover of Kharg Island, Iran’s main crude export terminal, could prompt the Iranian proxy to expand its attacks.
A renewed campaign by the Houthis against shipping in the Red Sea area and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would further disrupt global trade flows and global energy markets.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait has gained strategic importance after Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz following the start of “Operation Epic Fury/Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28.
Saudi Arabia has increased crude exports from its Red Sea port of Yanbu. For shipments to Asia—the largest market for Saudi oil—the Bab el-Mandeb Strait offers the fastest passage, and access to this alternative route has helped contain the increase in oil prices.
In an statement on Saturday, the Houthis vowed to continue their acts of terrorism until the U.S.-Israeli campaign against the Islamic regime and its regional proxy armies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, are halted. Saturday’s statement did not say whether they would target vessels in the Red Sea area.
In a statement published by Iranian state media on Monday, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani said that the “intelligent and courageous fire of our brothers in Hezbollah in the north and Ansar Allah [the Houthis] in the south” had exposed what he described as Jerusalem’s “false promises to the settlers.”
“The aspiration of the martyred commanders of the resistance has been realized: the war room of the resistance front is one,” he said, referencing Tehran’s network of Shi’ite and Sunni terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. He added: “Get used to the new regional order.”
Hezbollah began firing rockets and suicide drones at Israel on March 2, in retaliation for the Jewish state’s targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening strikes of the war on the Islamic regime.
