DROP SITE NEWS: What role did Iran play in Ansarallah’s operation to capture Mokha? Will you coordinate with them to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait to commercial shipping?

GENERAL MOHSEN REZAEI: Ansarallah is not an Iranian military unit, and decisions about Yemeni territory are made by the Yemenis themselves. We have political relations with them and have never hidden our support for their resistance. But describing the Mokha operation as an Iranian operation, or assuming that Tehran issues operational orders to Sana’a, is not accurate.

Ansarallah had its own strategic reasons for capturing Mokha. Control of the western coast changes the military balance within Yemen and greatly increases its leverage over Saudi Arabia, as well as its access to the Red Sea. Regarding Bab al-Mandab, you should not automatically assume that what Iran is doing in Hormuz will be repeated there in exactly the same way. These are two different straits, two different political situations, and two different actors.

Iran is responsible for its own decisions in the Strait of Hormuz. Ansarallah is responsible for its own decisions in Bab al-Mandab. We are not announcing a joint Iranian–Yemeni decision to close Bab al-Mandab completely to commercial shipping.

But a broader strategic reality should not be overlooked. If the war continues to expand, or if the region’s maritime routes become instruments of economic warfare, every actor will reassess the tools at its disposal.

Iran does not need to give Ansarallah orders for them to understand the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab. They understand it very well themselves. Anyone planning for a prolonged regional war should understand that stability in Hormuz, the Red Sea, and Bab al-Mandab cannot forever be separated from the region’s overall security situation.

Read our full exclusive interview with Iran’s top security official, Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, below.