Key keywords: Iran, Houthi movement, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Red Sea maritime security, US military strikes, Iranian power network, US-Iran tensions, global shipping trade This exclusive report draws on verified accounts from three anonymous regional security sources and one diplomatic official with direct access to communications between Iranian leadership and Houthi senior command, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of cross-border militant coordination. Over the past four months, Houthi forces based in northern Yemen have launched more than 40 drone and missile attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea, framing the assaults as retaliation for Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip. The attacks have already forced nearly 60% of global container shipping lines to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, adding an estimated 7-10 days to transit times and increasing shipping costs by up to 250% for Asia-Europe trade routes. According to the sources, senior officials from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force delivered the explicit directive to Houthi military leadership during a closed-door meeting in Sana’a last week. The directive states that if the US military carries out any planned strikes targeting Iran’s national power grid, energy infrastructure, or core civilian utility networks on Iranian soil, Houthi forces are ordered to immediately impose a full blockade on the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the 20-mile wide chokepoint that controls access to the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden. The Bab al-Mandeb Strait handles roughly 12% of global seaborne trade, including 30% of the world’s daily liquefied natural gas shipments and 10% of global crude oil exports. A full closure of the waterway would trigger immediate spikes in global energy prices, disrupt semiconductor and consumer goods supply chains ahead of the year-end holiday shopping season, and push inflation rates higher across both developed and emerging economies. US national security officials have not yet commented on the reported directive, but earlier this week, White House spokesperson John Kirby stated that the US “reserves the right to take all necessary action to protect our personnel, our partners, and global maritime commerce from illegal threats.” Iranian officials have repeatedly denied direct operational control over Houthi forces in Yemen, but have publicly praised the group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping as “a legitimate response to Israeli war crimes in Gaza.” Regional security analysts warn that the directive marks a significant escalation in the ongoing shadow conflict between Iran and the US across the Middle East, raising the risk of a direct military confrontation that could draw in multiple regional states. The United Nations has called for an immediate de-escalation of tensions, urging all parties to avoid actions that threaten freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical trade corridors.