US-Iran Monitor — 22:30 UTC: Iran's IRGC threatens Bab al-Mandeb as next war front after Hormuz

Al Jazeera's Inside Story reports that, after the Strait of Hormuz confrontation, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened to turn the Bab al-Mandeb Strait into its next front in the war with the US, potentially relying on its Houthi allies in Yemen to choke the vital Red Sea–Gulf of Aden shipping route (https://www.aljazeera.com/video/inside-story/2026/7/16/how-serious-is-irans-threat-to-disrupt-shipping-in-the-red-sea). Bab al-Mandeb is a global shipping artery linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Any Houthi-enabled blockade would compound the disruptions already playing out at the Strait of Hormuz, where the US military has struck an oil tanker and the two sides have traded fire for days (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqwkegqk0o). The reported threat lands as the conflict grinds on with strikes on maritime and military targets. Related escalations already reported include Yemen's Houthis launching missiles at Saudi Arabia after strikes on Sanaa airport (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9ldle3d3xo) and the US approving nearly $2bn in air-defence weapons sales to Saudi Arabia (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/16/us-approves-nearly-2bn-in-weapons-sale-to-saudi-arabia).