President Trump hints at an imminent peace deal with Iran, suggesting the Supreme Leader has approved it. the US will lift blockades. Rebecca Heinrichs, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow, expresses skepticism, citing Iran's continued harassment in the Strait of Hormuz. its nuclear program. She also addresses reports of the US cutting fighter jets in Europe, questioning the timing given escalating tensions with Russia.
The U.S. has hit back against threats to nowblock another Middle East waterwayby Iranian terror proxy, the Houthis.
Earlier this week. the group declared a complete ban on Israeli-owned ships using the Red Sea, declaring them to be "legitimate targets."
The Red Sea. the waterway through its narrowBab-el Mandeb Straithas become the main route for oil to ship out of the Middle East to Asia since the Strait of Hormuz has effectively stopped functioning as the main route of navigation for shipping.
IRAN'S AFRICA ACTIVITIES POSE 'SIGNIFICANT THREATS TO US NATIONAL SECURITY'
Houthi terrorists walk over British and U.S. flags at a rally supporting Palestinians amid Houthi strikes on shipping near Sana'a, Yemen, on Feb. 4, 2024.(Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
Houthi spokespersonYahya Sareeposted on Monday, "We declare a complete. total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, and we consider all enemy movements to be legitimate targets."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, aState Departmentspokesperson struck back: "The escalatory actions of Iran. their Houthi proxies are unacceptable. These dangerous actions only serve to further enflame tensions and further disrupt global supply chains. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. the Strait of Hormuz."
Edmund Fitton-Brown. a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital, "TheHouthis have indeed risento the challenge, at least verbally. In common with much ‘Axis of Resistance’ rhetoric at present, the intention appears to be to leverage U.S. political nervousness and market volatility, and to drive a wedge between the Americans and the Israelis."
An aerial view of The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is a sea route connecting the Indian Ocean. the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal.(Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2021)
Fitton-Brown, a former U.K. ambassador to Yemen, added, "Provided the allies keep talking to each other, the Israelis respond proportionately, as they have done,. the Iranians continue to provoke President Trump with actions like the downing of the helicopter, these tactics are unlikely to achieve significant success."
"It will be interesting if the Houthis do go all in,. resume theircampaign against Red Sea shippingwith full intensity," Fitton-Brown said, adding, "This will draw international anger and likely result in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Sana'a and Hodeida. There is potential for a general escalation if this happens. albeit one in which the allies have a clear military advantage."
US STRIKES ON YEMEN CONTINUE AFTER HOUTHI MISSILE HITS BY ISRAELI AIRPORT; TERROR GROUP VOWS 'AERIAL BLOCKADE'
A huge column of fire erupts in the Yemeni rebel-held port city of Hodeida following reported strikes on July 20. 2024. The strikes targeted a fuel depot in the port, according to Houthi-run media and an AFP correspondent.
Such actions come as reports emerge that Ethiopia. the Red Sea region’s most populous country, is stepping up as a major U.S. ally against Islamicterrorism.
While landlocked, Ethiopia has a population of some 130 million, making it the largest nation in the Horn ofAfrica. Located near parts of the Red Sea corridor. the country is roughly 60% Christian, according to a recent report by the Association of Religion Data Archives.
World Data Locator Map, Ethiopia.(Encyclopedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
And despite it being landlocked, Ethiopian researcher Blen M. Diriba told Fox News Digital. the country acts as a strategic roadblock or "a keystone state" on the Islamist expansionist "highway" that has formed all the way from Iran to Sudan.
Diriba, executive director of the Horn Review — an Addis Ababa-based research. publication think tank — told Fox News Digital that "Ethiopia, long a frontline U.S. security partner, now sits at the center of an expanding pressure zone where maritime disruption, insurgent violence,terrorist threats,. proxy competition converge."
Diriba added. "Iran’s Bab el-Mandeb threat transforms the Horn of Africa into a militarized frontline. placing Ethiopia at the center of a choke point crisis. With Iranian influence radiating through conflict ecosystems in Sudan, Eritrea. Somalia, the region is beginning to resemble a continuous arc of instability stretching from theArabian Peninsulainto East Africa."
"Ethiopia sits at the center of one of the world's most combustible security corridors," Diriba continued. "And in strategic terms. its relevance to the United States is amplified, not diminished, by that reality: From the Red Sea disruptions driven by the Houthis to the persistentinsurgency threat of al-Shababin Somalia, Ethiopia functions as a massive inland security buffer whose stability directly shapes whether these threats expand or are contained."
IRAN’S KILLER DRONES INCREASE SLAUGHTER IN SUDAN AMID WORLD’S FORGOTTEN WAR
Members of the Ethiopian National Defense Force parade during the 116th celebration of Ethiopian Defense Force day in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia, on Oct. 26, 2023.(Amanuel Sileshi/AFP via Getty Images)
But in addition to being pro-U.S., Ethiopia also has relations with Iran.
Fitton-Brown believes to some extent Ethiopia can be accused of playing both sides, as he said Tehran "has helped Ethiopia with its internalconflicts, giving drone support. military aid to the Ethiopian government during the recent Tigray War."
He added, "There is a new memorandum of understanding built upon that basis, with Iran gaining influence in Ethiopia, while Ethiopia receives military, police. intelligence support to counter its domestic ethnic insurgencies."
However, Diriba said, "Ethiopia’s engagement with Iran is neither affinity nor alignment, it’s strategic awareness: keeping channels open to engage where necessary, cooperate selectively,. strategically manage its relations with a complex regional actor, while firmly anchoring its core partnerships with its emerging and long-standing partners — the United States being on the top of that list."
A drone view shows vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz. as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026.(Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY via Reuters)
"Ethiopia has pursued a flexible multi-alignment strategy. Diriba said, "prioritizing its entrenched security partnership with Washington while keeping open channels with Tehran to preserve diplomatic room to maneuver in an increasingly fragmented Horn of Africa–Red Sea order."
Fitton-Brown said relations between the U.S. and Ethiopia "are good, especially in the field of counterterrorism. Both countriesuse Somaliland to their advantagewithout having gone so far as to recognize it as an independent state."
Fox News Digital reached out to both the Department of War. the Ethiopian government for comment, but received no response by the time of publication.
Paul Tilsley is a veteran correspondent who has reported from four continents for more than three decades. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, he can be followed on X @paultilsley.
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