Iran threatens to block the Bab al Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea if the US invades its territory

In statements to the Tasnim agency, an Iranian military source stressed that Iran “constantly monitors enemy movements” in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of ​​Oman, and will open surprise fronts to “multiply the costs” from any land aggression on its islands or in any other part of its territory.

“The Bab al Mandeb Strait is one of the world’s strategic passes, and “Iran has both the will and the ability to generate a fully credible threat against him.”warned the source.

He added that “If the Americans are looking for stupid solutions for Hormuz, let them not add Bab al Mandeb to their problems,” he emphasized.

The Bab al Mandeb Strait is one of the most strategic maritime passages in the world, as it links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and, therefore, with the Indian Ocean, acting as a mandatory gateway for the shortest route between Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal.

This threat comes after information published this Tuesday by American media about possible US preparations. to send the 82nd Airborne Infantry Division to the Middle Eastalthough no decision has yet been made that involves a deployment to Iranian territory.

The Wall Street Journal stated that the Pentagon is planning that 3,000 troops from ‘the 82nd’ (one of the elite units of the US Army) move to the Middle East to support the attacks that the US has been carrying out since February 28 with the support of Israel.

For days there has been speculation about the possibility that Washington deploy soldiers to points such as Kharg Island, where the main oil export center of Iran is located, or other points in Iranian territory to carry out different missions.

Although the Bab al Mandeb Strait It is located about 2,000 kilometers from Iranian territoryon the eastern shore of this maritime passage operates the Ansar Allá movement, known as Houthis, an ally of Iran and which exercises de facto control over large territories of Yemen.

The Houthis, who took up arms in 2014 against the internationally recognized Yemeni government and established a de facto executive in Sana’a, They are part of what Tehran calls the ‘axis of resistance‘, a regional network of armed groups opposed to Israel and the US.

During the start of the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the Houthis have launched missiles and drones towards Israel and attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, under the pretext that they can pressure Israel to stop its offensive against the Palestinians.

The campaign interrupted the sea route in Bab al Mandeb and the Red Sea, until a wave of attacks by the US and its allies against Houthi positions led them to agree with US President Donald Trump, a pause in their actions against navigation.

At the moment, and despite having expressed their support for Iran in the current conflict against Israel and the US, the Houthis have not resumed their attacks against maritime traffic.