Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized key territory along the country’s Red Sea coast, raising concerns about security in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical global shipping route, and triggering a new wave of displacement.
David Silbey, a Cornell University professor of history specializing in military history, defense policy and battlefield analysis, says Houthi gains are increasing pressure on global oil supplies.
Silbey says: “At the larger strategic level, the challenge for the United States and its Mideast allies, especially Saudi Arabia, is that the Houthis are consolidating their ability to shut down the Red Sea, and thus the Suez Canal, to merchant shipping. That helps their allies, the Iranians, tighten the vise on the world’s oil supplies.
“With the Strait of Hormuz closed, the Red Sea threatened, and drone attacks continuing on the Saudi oil pipeline to the Mediterranean, the economic impact of President Trump’s war with Iran is large and likely to grow. Ready for $10-a-gallon gas?
“There’s not a lot the United States can do: the only really effective tactic would be a ground invasion of Iran, but that’s highly unlikely given American public opinion. The ability of Iran and its allies to shut things down is greater than the ability of the U.S. and its allies to keep them open.”
