The Houthis Are About to Control a Chokepoint Only Navies Used to Hold — and That Changes the US-Iran War
For the first time in modern history, an Iran-aligned militia — not a state, not a navy — is positioned to physically control one of the world's most strategic waterways. With the US-Iran ceasefire dead and American forces already under fire in the region, the Houthis' capture of Yemen's port of Mokha hands Tehran a second front from which to pressure Washington, one it doesn't even have to fight on itself.
Bottom Line
The Houthi advance on Bab al-Mandab isn't just a Yemen story — it's a structural shift in the US-Iran war. Tehran's partners are converting battlefield gains into geographic leverage over a global waterway, and the US now faces a choice between accepting that leverage or committing naval forces to contest it during an active conflict. Whether the strait islands themselves have fallen remains unconfirmed, but the trajectory is unambiguous: the buffer between the Houthis and the strait is nearly gone.