The Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has quoted an unnamed Iranian military source as saying that if the United States launched a ground attack on Iranian islands, “another front” will open in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
The Bab Al-Mandab Strait is a narrow passage for ships entering or exiting the Red Sea, whose Yemeni coastline is largely controlled by the Houthi rebels, an armed group backed by Iran and a US-designated terrorist organization.
There has been speculation that US troops could seize Kharg Island, which serves as Iran’s main oil export outlet. US troops destroyed military infrastructure on the island in March 13 air strikes.
Houthi rebels had been targeting commercial ships in the strait and the Red Sea after the start of the Gaza War in October 2023.
These attacks stopped a few months after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president in January 2025, following heavy US and Israeli air strikes on Houthi positions, and then negotiations mediated by Oman.
Iranian officials have repeatedly denied that the Houthis follow Tehran’s orders regarding attacks on shipping.
“The Bab Al-Mandab Strait is considered one of the world’s strategic straits, and Iran has both the will and the ability to produce a completely credible threat against it,” the military source cited by Tasnim said.
Following the US and Israeli attacks that began on February 28, Iran has effectively halted passage through the Strait of Hormuz by carrying out attacks on ships and tankers.
