Trump blockaded the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Iran had a new threat ready by Tuesday morning.
Tehran decided one closed chokepoint was not enough.
Now they are threatening to cut off the one shipping lane Europe cannot survive without.
Iran Threatens to Close the Red Sea Chokepoint That Feeds Europe
The Bab al-Mandeb is a 20-mile-wide bottleneck between Yemen and Djibouti where the Red Sea drains into the Gulf of Aden.
Twelve percent of global oil shipments pass through it every single day.
Everything Europe imports from Asia – electronics, fuel, manufactured goods – moves through that corridor.
Iranian parliament member Behnam Saeedi made Tehran's position plain: "With the help of our Yemeni brothers, the issue of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait is also under consideration and action."
Senior Supreme Leader adviser Ali Akbar Velayati backed him up on X: "Today, the unified command of the Resistance front views Bab al-Mandeb as it does Hormuz."
"If the White House dares to repeat its foolish mistakes, it will soon realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single move," he added.
One move. Two chokepoints. The entire global energy market held hostage.
When the Houthis, Tehran's Iran-backed Yemeni terror proxy, attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea in 2023, major carriers rerouted around Africa and Suez Canal traffic fell by half.
That was freelance harassment with no direct order from Tehran.
What Saeedi is describing is a coordinated strategic shutdown with Iran calling the shots directly.
A combined Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb closure would block roughly 30% of global container shipping from its normal route and cut off around 22% of the world's oil supply simultaneously.
The last time oil markets faced a shock anything close to this scale was the Arab oil embargo of 1973 – and that sent gas prices through the roof and triggered rationing across the country.
Why the Houthi Bab al-Mandeb Threat Proves Iran Is Losing
JD Vance said it flat out on Fox News: "If the Iranians are going to try to engage in economic terrorism, we're going to abide by the simple principle that no Iranian ships are getting out, either."
Iran closed Hormuz thinking it would strangle the world into pressuring Trump.
Trump called the bluff and locked Iran's own ports.
Now Iran is threatening Bab al-Mandeb as a backup card – but the hand gets weaker every time they play one.
The Houthis are not what they were two years ago.
The U.S. military hit over 1,100 Houthi targets in Operation Rough Rider in 2025 – radar systems, missile storage, command infrastructure, and senior leadership including military chief of staff Mohammad al-Ghamari.
They still have drones. They still have anti-ship missiles. But sustained, coordinated action to close an entire strait is a different capability than harassment attacks on individual vessels.
A regime that cannot keep its own strait open is now threatening to close someone else's.
How the Iran Blockade Made American Energy the World's Only Option
Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf posted a photo of Washington-area gas prices on X with the caption: "Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called 'blockade', soon you'll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas."
He thinks that is a threat.
Trump sees it differently.
Every barrel that does not move through the Gulf is a barrel the world buys from American producers instead.
The U.S. is producing 23.6 million barrels of oil per day – more than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined.
Ghalibaf just told the world that Iran's best weapon against Trump is making American energy more valuable.
Iran has been the Middle East's self-appointed gatekeeper for 47 years – threatening, extorting, and strangling shipping lanes every time Washington pushed back.
Trump called it in six weeks, locked their ports, and watched them scramble for a second chokepoint they do not fully control.
China and India – the two countries most dependent on Iranian crude – are already being forced to buy from American producers at American prices.
Ghalibaf can post gas price photos all he wants.
Iran is not winning this one.
Sources:
- Emma Bussey, "Gate of Tears at Risk: Iran Threatens Major New Global Chokepoint if US Moves on Hormuz," Fox News, April 12, 2026.
- "Iran Weighing Bab al-Mandeb Disruption via Houthis, MP Says," AFP, April 13, 2026.
- "Trump Vows US Will Strike Iran's Power Plants, Bridges if Strait of Hormuz Is Not Reopened," Fox News, April 12, 2026.
- "Vance Says the Ball Is in Iran's Court to Move Peace Talks Further, as U.S. Blockade Takes Effect," CNBC, April 13, 2026.
- "President Trump's Powerful Leadership Highlights American Strength as Energy Dominance Delivers Global Stability," WhiteHouse.gov, April 14, 2026.
- "Two Chokepoints at Risk: What Happens If Houthis Close Bab el-Mandeb," TransGlobal, April 8, 2026.