A Washington Post article published Sept. 15 reports that “a lightning offensive along Yemen’s Red Sea coast by Iranian-backed Houthi militants has strengthened Tehran’s leverage in its war of economic attrition with Washington—giving it the ability to threaten a waterway that plays an even broader role in global shipping than the Strait of Hormuz.”

The article specifies some of the dramatic economics involved: “About 8.7 percent of global seaborne trade passes through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, making it one of the busiest chokepoints for maritime transport, according to 2023 figures published by the United Nations. That includes 20 percent shares of both cars and containers, 15 percent of oil products and 13 percent of crude oil.”