Bab-el-Mandeb

Where in the World is Monty?

Fighting in Yemen escalates, raising concern of a return to civil war

The Houthis launched a series of attacks on Yemeni government forces on August 6. It is the most substantial campaign in Yemen from the Iran-backed terror group since a 2022 UN-brokered truce paused...

Houthis escalate attacks in Red Sea and on Saudi Arabia, Riyadh evaluates options

After Yemen’s Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20, the Iran-backed terror group has attacked Saudi Arabia directly and claimed attacks on eight Saudi-linked...

Erdogan’s Iraq play: A bigger game than oil

There is an easy way to read Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to host Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi in Ankara on July 28, and to call the visit “historic”: as an energy...

The Axis of Aggressors vs. America

During the Cold War, the U.S. had only one major enemy – now we have four

Drone Strike on Egypt Spotlights Iran’s Expanding Pressure Campaign

For months, Cairo watched Iran’s regional campaign from the sidelines. Now, the war appears to have reached Egypt. On July 29, a drone struck the Egyptian port city of Damietta, damaging a U.S. gas...

The Houthis Are Hitting Saudi Arabia’s Energy Pipeline — and Here’s Why That Matters

Saudi Arabia has weathered Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz by relying on its east-west pipeline to send crude from the kingdom’s energy-rich eastern province to the Red Sea terminal...

How to break Iran’s terrorist regime

“Gradually, then suddenly” could work

The Middle East Moves Toward a Multifront Maritime War

Yemen’s Houthis have brought the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait into the conflict between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran — blocking millions more barrels of oil from easily...

Britain’s New PM and Yemen’s Old Houthis

Houthis announce blockade of Saudi Arabia, ships reroute to avoid Bab al Mandeb Strait

The Houthis announced a complete maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 20. In response, a growing number of vessels are rerouting to avoid the Bab al Mandeb Strait, the southern...

Why the Houthis Declared a Blockade on Saudi Arabia

The Yemeni militant group is poised to disrupt another key chokepoint in the global energy supply.

Iran reportedly tells Houthis to close Bab al Mandeb Strait if US strikes power grid

Three sources told Reuters on July 16 that Iran has instructed Yemen’s Houthis to close the Red Sea to shipping if the US attacks Iran’s power network, which President Donald Trump threatened to...

How the Houthis Could Put the World in Double Dire Straits

The terror group could use the lessons it learned from the Iran war to endanger the global community.

Sudan Turns Away From Iranian Weapons in Hopes of Courting Washington

Sudan’s civil war, now in its fourth year, has become one of Africa’s first drone wars. Yet the drones dominating this battlefield are overwhelmingly foreign. From approximately 3,000 miles away,...

Khamenei warily accepts US deal as Tehran eyes rebuilding Hezbollah

On June 18, the Islamic Republic’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father, issued a statement on the recent memorandum of understanding between Washington...

Gifting Iran Early Concessions Surrenders Washington’s Upper Hand

The U.S. has reportedly granted Iran sanction waivers for selling oil, with one Iranian supertanker transporting crude oil having already crossed the U.S. naval blockade. This development came one day...

Why Squander The Greatest Leverage Ever Built Against Iran?

Is the Trump administration about to surrender a significant portion of its leverage before the hardest phase of negotiations begin?

Don’t buy Iran’s charade — this regime can’t afford peace at ANY price

For the last two months, President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Iran has seesawed between expressing optimism on negotiations and making explicit threats to remove the mullahs from power. This week,...

Houthis attack Israel and announce ban on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea

On June 8, Yemen’s Houthis fired missiles at central Israel as the Jewish state and Iran exchanged fire for the first time since the April 7 ceasefire between the US, Israel, and...