Source: mint [India]
“Yemen’s government has accused the Iran-backed Houthi rebels [sic] of working with Tehran to establish a system for charging fees to commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, describing the alleged plan as a major threat to global shipping and energy markets. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said on Wednesday (July 29) that recently obtained intelligence indicated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was helping the Houthis create a technical and administrative framework to collect payments from shipping companies using one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors. … Reuters reported that senior Houthi officials travelled to Iran in July to attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, where Iranian officials discussed the possibility of introducing transit charges for ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb.” (07/29/26)