The Houthis seek to replicate the Iranian model of control over the Strait of Hormuz on Bab al-Mandab. Yemen's FM says Houthis using Bab al-Mandeb to mirror Iran's pressure Afrah al-Zouba, the Foreign Minister Designate of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said the Houthis were seeking to replicate Iran's model of trying to impose control on international shipping around the Strait of Hormuz in the Bab el-Mandeb. The group had been emboldened by what she called an insufficiently serious international response to attacks on commercial shipping over the past years, al-Zouba told a small group of journalists, including Reuters, on Monday.
People sit in a fishing boat sailing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off of Yemen's southern Taiz province on 25 July 2026 (AFP)
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