Iran may also retaliate indirectly by attempting to choke the world’s energy arteries.
The Strait of Hormuz is already heavily disrupted. Now the Houthis are attempting to threaten Saudi shipping through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb.
Reuters reports that Iran recently transported Revolutionary Guard commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Houthi-controlled Yemen. Days later, the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi shipping and attacked Saudi oil tankers.
That creates a potential two-chokepoint crisis: Iran threatening traffic through Hormuz while its Houthi allies threaten traffic between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Oil has already climbed above $100 per barrel. The two waterways together handle roughly one-quarter of global petroleum supplies, and insurers are sharply increasing the cost of sending ships through threatened areas.
A sustained shutdown could produce fuel shortages, inflation, disrupted supply chains and a major global recession. Predictions of an automatic worldwide depression, failed banks and the immediate collapse of civilization go well beyond what the evidence presently supports. But the economic danger is unquestionably severe.