A senior Ansar Allah official warned on Sunday that the Yemeni group is prepared to shut down the strategic Bab Al-Mandeb Strait, marking the group’s first direct acknowledgement of reports that Tehran requested the move should its own energy infrastructure face a US strike.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the political bureau of the Ansar Allah movement, opened the door to a potential escalation in the vital waterway, asserting to Al Manassa that the group is fully prepared to “confront siege with siege.”
Al-Bukhaiti stated that Yemen has endured a Saudi-led “air and sea blockade” for years. “There is a blockade imposed on Yemen, and we will meet blockade with blockade,” he said.
He clarified, however, that any retaliatory measures taken by the group in the Red Sea would exclusively target “Saudi vessels and those aligned with them.”
Al-Bukhaiti added that Ansar Allah “do not seek to harm the interests of any non-aggressor nation,” noting that Egypt, Sudan, and other Red Sea littoral states are not among the group’s targets.
Any disruption to shipping through the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait threatens a direct knock-on effect for vessel traffic routing toward the Suez Canal. Channel revenues have already suffered over the past two years due to Ansar Allah naval operations targeting vessels linked to Israel and the United States, prompting a significant portion of global shipping firms to divert routes around the Cape of Good Hope.
Al-Bukhaiti called on Riyadh to bring an end to both the blockade and the war, suggesting that de-escalation has become a necessity for all parties.
“Ending the escalation is now a mutual interest for everyone,” Al-Bukhaiti said. “There is no longer any solution but lifting the blockade, whether by agreement or by war.”
His remarks come on the heels of media reports citing Iranian and regional sources, which claimed Tehran had requested Ansar Allah to prepare for a closure of the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait in the event of a US military strike on Iranian energy facilities, which is framed as a countermeasure to the ongoing US blockade on Iranian oil exports and maritime commerce.
Iran has previously threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, in response to any US strikes on its energy sector. Recent intelligence suggests, however, that regional planners are evaluating alternative leverage points, including the Bab Al-Mandeb, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and serves as a vital artery for global trade and energy transport.
In a parallel warning, Al-Bukhaiti threatened to target any potential Israeli military footprint in the self-declared state of Somaliland.
“We will not wait until the Zionist entity establishes military bases there,” Al-Bukhaiti said. “We will initiate strikes to destroy them in their infancy. We will not allow Israeli expansion or entrenchment in the region under any circumstances.”
The escalating rhetoric comes amid a widening geopolitical standoff between the United States and Iran, fueling concerns that regional friction is spilling over into critical maritime corridors. Both the Strait of Hormuz and Bab Al-Mandeb have increasingly been drawn into the mutual deterrence equation shaping the broader crisis.
