IranThe Second Chokepoint: Houthis Declare a Bab el-Mandeb Blockade as US Strikes Enter a Tenth Night
Day 144 in one line: the war gains a second contested chokepoint — the Houthis declare a Bab el-Mandeb blockade while Hormuz sits shut — as a tenth night of US strikes hits Iran’s command architecture, Iran answers against three US-hosting bases in Kuwait, and mediators put a 10-day ceasefire on the table.
The Blockade Announced: Bab el-Mandeb
Yemen’s Houthis declared a naval blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the Red Sea’s southern gate and, with Hormuz effectively closed, the Gulf’s main remaining sea outlet for oil. In a video statement the group framed the blockade as retaliation for Saudi strikes on Sanaa’s airport, which the Houthis say were carried out while an Iranian official was transiting it earlier this month. The Saudi-led coalition said it would answer any blockade with force. Rystad Energy puts roughly 2.5 million barrels per day of Saudi exports at risk; the standing readiness order Iran gave the Houthis on Day 139 is now a declared blockade.
The Tenth Night: Command Centers and Air Defenses
CENTCOM said late Monday, US Eastern time, that it struck Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems — the tenth consecutive night of the campaign. The stated logic holds: degrade Iran’s ability to strike shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Reply: Three Bases in Kuwait, Attacks in Jordan and Bahrain
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Iranian forces targeted three bases hosting US military personnel and equipment in Kuwait overnight, with Kuwait reporting power and desalination plants among the sites hit; fresh attacks were also reported in Jordan and Bahrain. Jordanian flight cancellations continued as the exchanges disrupted regional air travel.
The 10-Day Ceasefire Proposal
Pakistani and Qatari mediators are pushing a 10-day ceasefire to revive the collapsed Islamabad framework. Energy analysts read it as the one live de-escalation path: ING flagged “some hope” while calling the task hard, and markets whipsawed between the blockade announcement and truce headlines through the session.
Markets and the Two Chokepoints
Brent crude traded near a one-month high around $90.20, up about 1.1% on the session, with WTI at $84.13. With Hormuz traffic at a standstill, exporters lean on Saudi Arabia’s East-West Petroline to Red Sea terminals — the exact route a Bab el-Mandeb blockade would choke. Two of the world’s critical oil gates are now simultaneously contested for the first time in the war.
Status Assessment
Tracker status holds at WAR RESUMED. The strike campaign is ten nights deep; Iran’s retaliation set now reaches three Gulf states in a single cycle; the Day-139 tripwire has matured into a declared blockade of a second chokepoint; and for the first time since the July collapse, a concrete ceasefire proposal — ten days, Pakistani-Qatari brokered — sits on the table. Escalation and off-ramp are now moving in parallel.