Twiddling thumbs in Tehran

The international community holds its breath as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz threaten to escalate into renewed all-out war between the United States and Iran.

Yet, the Strait, alongside Lebanon, where Israel continues to strike at alleged Hezbollah targets despite a ceasefire, is not the only Middle Eastern theatre at risk of escalated violence with potential regional and global consequences.

Mounting tensions in Yemen could lead to a de facto closure of Bab al-Mandab, the narrow waterway that links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Yemen is on edge with the Houthi delegation that attended the funeral proceedings for Ali Khamenei figuring out how to return to Sana’a, the Yemeni capital, four days after Iran’s assassinated supreme leader was put to rest in his birthplace, Mashhad.