{"id":60483,"date":"2026-04-17T13:15:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=60483"},"modified":"2026-04-17T13:15:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:15:39","slug":"houthis-to-block-bab-al-mandab-strait-today-noon-local-time-in-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/?p=60483","title":{"rendered":"Houthis to Block Bab al-Mandab Strait Today, Noon Local Time in Yemen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The Yemen-based Houthi movement has issued threats to block the strategic<br \/>\nBab al-Mandab Strait, with some reports as of April 16, 2026, indicating potential actions could begin as early as &#8220;tomorrow afternoon&#8221;. These threats are largely framed as a &#8220;trumpcard&#8221; to be used in response to any escalation in the ongoing Iran-US-Israel conflict, specifically if Gulf nations join military operations against Iran.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"otQkpb\" role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"3\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-processed=\"true\"><strong>Current Threat Status<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"KsbFXc U6u95\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\">\n<li class=\"dF3vjf\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-hveid=\"CAMQAA\" data-processed=\"true\"><span class=\"T286Pc\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\"><strong class=\"Yjhzub\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\">Timeline:<\/strong>\u00a0Reports from April 16, 2026, cite warnings from Iranian-linked figures that vessels attempting to pass through the strait starting\u00a0<strong class=\"Yjhzub\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\">tomorrow afternoon (April 17)<\/strong>\u00a0should expect threats &#8220;from all sides,&#8221; with initial steps to block the passage potentially beginning at noon.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"dF3vjf\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-hveid=\"CAMQAQ\" data-processed=\"true\"><span class=\"T286Pc\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\"><strong class=\"Yjhzub\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\">Conditions for Blockade:<\/strong>\u00a0Houthi officials have stated that closing the strait is a &#8220;viable option&#8221; if US-Israeli aggression against Iran and\u00a0<\/span>\n<div class=\"Mat90e\" data-animation-atomic=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-wiz-uids=\"BpXBuf_16\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\"><span data-processed=\"true\"><a id=\"A2riabCBFbqvp84P-LLx0AI_4\" class=\"FCWwCb bqYA2d\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=lebanon&amp;kgmid=\/m\/04hqz&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjwjobxsPWTAxW618kDHXhZHCoQ3egRegQIAxAD\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjwjobxsPWTAxW618kDHXhZHCoQ3egRegQIAxAD\" data-processed=\"true\">Lebanon<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"T286Pc\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\">\u00a0escalates savagely, or if any Gulf state becomes directly involved in military operations supporting the US or Israel.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"dF3vjf\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-hveid=\"CAMQBA\" data-processed=\"true\"><span class=\"T286Pc\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\"><strong class=\"Yjhzub\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\">Strategic Intent:<\/strong>\u00a0The Houthis describe their objective as preventing the\u00a0<\/span>\n<div class=\"Mat90e\" data-animation-atomic=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-wiz-uids=\"BpXBuf_1b\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\"><span data-processed=\"true\"><a id=\"A2riabCBFbqvp84P-LLx0AI_5\" class=\"FCWwCb bqYA2d\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=red+sea&amp;kgmid=\/m\/06jfd&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjwjobxsPWTAxW618kDHXhZHCoQ3egRegQIAxAG\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjwjobxsPWTAxW618kDHXhZHCoQ3egRegQIAxAG\" data-processed=\"true\">Red Sea<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"T286Pc\" data-sfc-cp=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\">\u00a0from being used militarily against any Muslim country. They have signaled they would specifically target vessels belonging to states carrying out strikes on Iran, Lebanon,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"Mat90e\" data-animation-atomic=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" data-wiz-uids=\"BpXBuf_1d\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-processed=\"true\"><span data-processed=\"true\"><a id=\"A2riabCBFbqvp84P-LLx0AI_6\" class=\"FCWwCb bqYA2d\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=Palestine&amp;kgmid=\/m\/01k0p4&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjwjobxsPWTAxW618kDHXhZHCoQ3egRegQIAxAI\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjwjobxsPWTAxW618kDHXhZHCoQ3egRegQIAxAI\" data-processed=\"true\">Palestine<\/a>, and\u00a0<\/span><span data-processed=\"true\"><a id=\"A2riabCBFbqvp84P-LLx0AI_7\" class=\"FCWwCb bqYA2d\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=Iraq&amp;kgmid=\/m\/0d05q4&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjwjobxsPWTAxW618kDHXhZHCoQ3egRegQIAxAK\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjwjobxsPWTAxW618kDHXhZHCoQ3egRegQIAxAK\" data-processed=\"true\">Iraq<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60483"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60484,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60483\/revisions\/60484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}