Yemen’s foreign minister-designate Afrah Al-Zouba says the Houthis are trying to replicate Iran’s approach to controlling or pressuring international shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, but in the Red Sea. Speaking in Riyadh on Monday, Al-Zouba said the Houthis aim to disrupt shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. She described the plan as a “copy” of the Iranian model and said it would affect two key maritime chokepoints that serve as gateways into the Gulf and the Red Sea. Al-Zouba also said the Houthis have been emboldened by what she called an insufficiently serious international response to attacks on commercial shipping in recent years. The statements reflect Yemen’s internationally recognised government assessment of the Houthi campaign and its intended strategic effect on regional sea lanes. The reports attribute the assessment directly to Al-Zouba and do not provide additional independent verification or detailed evidence of specific operational plans in the sources provided.
Yemen FM says Houthis seek to replicate Iran’s shipping pressure model near Bab al-Mandeb
Yemen’s foreign minister-designate Afrah Al-Zouba says the Houthis are trying to replicate Iran’s approach to controlling or pressuring international shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, but in the R...
- Yemen’s foreign minister-designate Afrah Al-Zouba says the Houthis seek to replicate Iran’s shipping-pressure model.
- The Houthis are described as targeting the Bab al-Mandeb strait as the main area of action.
- Al-Zouba says the strategy would disrupt shipping routes that function as gateways into the Gulf and the Red Sea.
- She says the Houthis are emboldened by what she characterizes as an insufficient international response to prior attacks on commercial shipping.
- The accounts present Al-Zouba’s statements without adding independent details beyond her characterization.
The Houthis seek to replicate the Iranian model of control over the Strait of Hormuz on Bab al-Mandab.
22 minutes agoBy Timour AzhariRIYADH, July 27 (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthi Movement aims to replicate Iran's Hormuz Strait strategy in the Red Sea by disrupting shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb and hasbeen emboldened by an insufficient international response, Yemen's top diplomat said on Monday. "The Houthis want to copy the Iranian model and this will shut down two main straits, the gateways into the Gulf and Red Sea," Yemeni Foreign Minister-designate Afrah Al-Zouba said, speaking to a small group of journalists at the Yemeni embassy in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
1 hour agoYemen's FM says Houthis using Bab al-Mandeb to mirror Iran's pressure Afrah al-Zouba, the Foreign Minister Designate of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said the Houthis were seeking to replicate Iran's model of trying to impose control on international shipping around the Strait of Hormuz in the Bab el-Mandeb. The group had been emboldened by what she called an insufficiently serious international response to attacks on commercial shipping over the past years, al-Zouba told a small group of journalists, including Reuters, on Monday. People sit in a fishing boat sailing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off of Yemen's southern Taiz province on 25 July 2026 (AFP)
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