Iran and the Houthis Could Redraw the Global Energy Map

The world is discovering that Iran and the Houthis do not need to control the world’s oil fields to exercise enormous influence over the global economy; they only need to control, or constrain access to, the narrow waterways through which that oil must pass.

A War That Has Reached the Energy Arteries

Thousands of kilometres away, the Yemeni Houthis are consolidating their position along the Red Sea coast. Their presence around the Bab al-Mandab Strait gives them growing influence over another of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. If that position develops into sustained control over maritime access, the consequences will extend well beyond Yemen. This should not be understood simply as Iran and the Houthis disrupting an otherwise stable international energy system. Their growing leverage is a consequence of a much wider regional conflict imposed on them by the US and its allies in the region.

The Houthis began their Red Sea campaign in late 2023, explicitly connecting their actions to Israel’s war in Gaza. Their operations subsequently led major shipping companies to reroute vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, adding thousands of kilometres and substantial costs to journeys between Asia and Europe. The current US military confrontation with Iran has added another dimension. As the United States and Israel have taken the conflict directly into Iranian territory, Tehran has sought ways to impose costs beyond the immediate battlefield. Iran’s geographical position gives it an obvious source of leverage: the Strait of Hormuz. The same logic applies to Houthis. Their position beside Bab al-Mandab—and their alliance with Iran—gives them an opportunity to........

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