Ah, there they are. We had been wondering why the Houthis hadn't been heard from.
From Chinese state-owned international broadcaster, CGTN, March 20:
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group is weighing the possibility of blocking the Bab al-Mandab Strait to vessels from nations it accuses of aggression against its allies in the "axis of resistance," RIA Novosti reported on Friday.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, said that any closure would be limited to targeting ships linked to countries engaged in hostilities against Iran, Lebanon, Palestine or Iraq.
The group is examining various courses of action to bolster Iran amid its ongoing conflict with the United States and Israel, al-Bukhaiti added.
The Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, serves as a vital corridor for global trade, particularly oil and gas shipments between Europe and Asia.
Since the war broke out late last month and spread across the Middle East, the Houthis have so far limited themselves to threats and preparations. Meanwhile other "axis of resistance" groups like Hezbollah and Iraqi militias have launched attacks on Israel and US positions in a show of solidarity with Iran.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has said his group is ready to act and is coordinating with Iran. The group describes a possible Bab al-Mandab blockade as a key option to support Tehran and pressure the West.
A Houthi blockade of the narrow waterway would force oil and trade vessels to reroute around Africa, raising shipping costs, fuel prices and inflation worldwide while deepening an oil crisis following Iran's blockage of the Strait of Hormuz. For the US, it would mean higher domestic energy costs and greater economic strain; globally it would send oil prices soaring and slow growth....
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Outro, March 9 - "But what of the Houthis?"
But what of Iran's BFFs, the Houthis?The Saudi East -West pipeline was a strategic necessity, capable of 7mm Bbl/day, but the Houthis can still target ships approaching or departing through the Bab-al-Mandeb connecting the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Meaning everything would have to move north through the Suez canal which limits the size of the tankers to 1mm Bbl per i.e the SuezMax ships:
Where this gets doubly interesting is the fact that one of only two Chinese overseas military bases (the other being on the west coast of Cambodia) is parked at the approaches to the Red Sea and that very same Bab al-Mandab. From December 2025's ""How China Built a Network of Ports Encircling the Globe"":
As we've seen—most recently with Israel's Mossad in Iran and Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb in Russia—tractor-trailers and shipping containers make dandy places to hide your weapons of war. Also handy for transporting same. More after the jump....
....February 2024 - "Red Sea Rivalries"
The most amazing thing that has been pointed out over the last couple months is that China's base on Djibouti's Gulf of Aden coast, at the approaches to the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint into the Red Sea, gives them the perfect location to monitor Houthi action and American reaction:
—China Officially Sets Up Its First Overseas Base in Djibouti, The Diplomat
From Phenomenal World, February 15....So Mr. Risk Manager, what's your 2027 plan?
