Yemen Monitor / Tehran / Exclusive:
A well-informed Iranian official stated late Wednesday that the Houthi armed group in Yemen is preparing to take control of Bab al-Mandab Strait if requested by Tehran, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is closely affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard.
The agency quoted the source, described as “informed,” stating that the Houthi movement—as announced since the first day of “Ramadan War” (Iran’s defense against US-Israeli aggression)—is on “high alert and fully prepared to join the battlefield.”
The source added: “If it becomes necessary to control Bab al-Mandab Strait to impose further sanctions on the enemy, the heroes in Yemen are fully prepared to play a pivotal role.” The Iranian official emphasized what he described as the “truth that Iran alone possesses the capability to create a real and credible threat in Bab al-Mandab Strait.”
The source pointed out to Tasnim that the Houthi group has “already proven that closing Bab al-Mandab Strait and imposing the will of the Axis of Resistance in the Red Sea is an easy task for them.”
Earlier on Wednesday, an Iranian military source told Tasnim that “if the enemy decides to take provocative actions in southern Iran, new fronts may open that would surprise the enemy (…) by opening a new front in Bab al-Mandab Strait.”
Earlier this week, an Iranian military official confirmed that “an attack on Kharg Island will close Bab al-Mandab Strait.” It is expected that the U.S. is preparing to occupy the strategic Iranian island, with the arrival of amphibious forces and an airborne division expected to perform an airdrop to seize control.
On the eve of Eid al-Fitr, the Houthi leader stated that his forces are ready to enter the regional war and that the decision is linked to developments regarding the war on Iran. The Houthis have not yet intervened in the current conflict in support of Iran, though they have repeatedly stressed that their “fingers are on the trigger” and that their entry into the war is “only a matter of time.”
