The threat of the Yemeni Houthis to expand the front of the conflict beyond the Persian Gulf, confirms Tehran’s signal of the economic pressure on “other countries” to end the war
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Kamal Kharazi, a foreign policy adviser of the Iran’s supreme leader of the supreme leader of Iran, has a vision of ending the ongoing war between Israel and the US against Iran (since February 28), which does not include diplomacy, but violent economic pressure on “other countries”.
“I don’t see any more room for diplomacy… There is no room unless the economic pressure increases to the point that other countries would intervene to guarantee an end to the American and Israeli aggression against Iran,” Kharazi said this week in an exclusive interview with CNN (https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/09/middleeast/iran-long-war-kamal-kharazi-interview-intl).
US television company states that Kharazi suggested that the countries of the Persian Gulf and other countries must put pressure on the US to end the war.
In the meantime, Iran came out with an expanded list of “legitimate targets”, among which Tehran now includes the offices and installations of “Microsoft”, “Google”, “Palantir”, “Nvidia”, “Oracle”, international banks, cloud-infrastructure in Israel…(https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/11/iran-declares-us-israeli-economic-banking-interests-in-region-as-targets).
This is likely to upset the hosts of foreign mega-businesses in the Arabian Peninsula. But, apart from the energy importers directly affected by the suspension of exports through the Strait of Hormuz, who else could be among the “other countries” mentioned by Kharazi in the CNN interview?
Perhaps the answer should be sought on the south-western edges of the Arabian Peninsula, from where the first news about the significant manoeuvres of the pro-Iranian rebel movement Ansar Allah in the northwest of Yemen comes (https://jewishrhody.com/stories/iran-war-leaves-yemens-houthis-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-analysis,145058).
In line with the possible development of the situation, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority of the United Arab Emirates (NCEMA) denied the claims of the Yemeni Houthis that they had fired a cruise missile in the direction of the UAE airspace, more precisely towards the “Barakah” nuclear power plant, which otherwise provides 25 percent of the country’s electricity needs (https://www.sabanew.net/story/en/25788).
On the other hand, the Houthis have already issued a threat that with the new war situation over the Persian Gulf, they could close the narrow sea passage of Bab-el Mandeb, in the south of the Red Sea, between Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa (on the map). Normally 10-12 percent of global maritime trade (measured by cargo weight and cargo value) on the East-West maritime route, passes through Bab el-Mandeb (https://isdo.ch/analysis-of-maritime-geopolitics-on-early-2026-the-red-sea-factor/).
It is uncertain whether the Houthis are capable of implementing a “blockade” of Bab el-Mandeb, joining that way with Iranian “ramp” over the Hormuz Pass.
The global economic consequences of a such “double red traffic light” already seem unimaginable.
