Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Follow the Oil

Iran may use their Houthi proxy to interfere with Red Sea traffic, some of which is bypassing Hormuz. Iran has spent a lot of years trying to build a proxy in that region capable of doing this.

Iran looks farther away:

Having choked off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is now signaling it could play its most dangerous card yet: using Yemen's Houthi allies to shut the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, opening a new front against Washington and putting two of the world's most vital energy arteries ‌at risk. 

I quibble with the claim that Iran has choked off shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. I say their threat could be defeated but nobody wants to expend the effort to do so, preferring to wait until the crisis ends ... somehow. If oil shortages really hit, the effort would be made. 

But yes, Iran has a Plan B for the Gulf State Plan B of bypassing Hormuz. A capability Iran has long pursued

NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here

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NOTE: Photo from the article.