On the other side stands the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime gateway to the Gulf, where oil and gas export routes from Gulf countries converge towards global markets. Therefore, the value of the two straits lies in their geopolitical complementarity; Hormuz is linked to energy, while Bab el-Mandeb is linked to energy, trade, and the Suez Canal. Between them lies a strategic space encompassing the Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea—a space that can become a theater for gradual, multi-tool pressure.
Through this equation, Iran seeks to gain a strategic advantage based on distributing sources of pressure. The presence of Iranian capability at Hormuz and the Houthi militia near Bab el-Mandeb allows Tehran to influence two geographically distant and economically interconnected maritime routes, especially since when shipping traffic is endangered at multiple points, the cost of alternatives rises and economic decisions become tied to security calculations.
However, the danger of the matter lies in the fact that its impact quickly reaches the global economy. Rerouting ships away from Bab el-Mandeb means longer voyages around the Cape of Good Hope, greater fuel consumption, and higher transportation and insurance costs. Meanwhile, disruptions in Hormuz directly pressure energy markets, reflecting on transportation, industrial, electrical, and commodity costs. Furthermore, the convergence of pressures in both straits could transform the regional crisis into a broader economic confrontation.
Faced with this dilemma, the international community needs to build an integrated maritime security system extending from the Arabian Gulf across the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea, dealing with Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb within a single geopolitical space. This system is based on protecting freedom of navigation, tightening control over vital corridors, waters, islands, and ports, enhancing the naval capabilities of littoral states, and intensifying intelligence cooperation to track arms, funding, and military technology smuggling networks that provide armed militias with the capacity to threaten shipping. It also requires long-term security arrangements bringing together regional countries and international powers, based on a political and legal framework that defines responsibilities and consequences resulting from targeting commercial navigation, alongside deterrence and rapid response capabilities that prevent maritime chokepoints from becoming entrenched as sites of armed influence.
Ultimately, the strategic battle in this arena lies in ensuring that Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb remain open and safe corridors for trade and energy, free from the logic of extortion and the instrumentalization of geography to impose political wills. Any disruption in either strait raises transportation and energy costs and pressures available alternatives, while the accumulation of risks in both widens the circle of impact to affect markets, supply chains, and global economic stability. Hence, freedom of navigation becomes a shared international interest requiring political will capable of protecting its rules, and practical capability to prevent international corridors from being turned into tools in regional conflicts.
