Tehran / Sanaa — In the wake of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s killing in US–Israeli strikes, Iran has turned to one of its most aggressive proxies, ordering Yemen’s Houthi movement to unleash a “revenge blitz” against regional shipping and Western interests, according to regional intelligence sources in this fictional scenario.

Within hours, Houthi media announced the launch of cruise missiles and explosive drones toward “Zionist and American-linked” vessels in the Red Sea, claiming hits on a fuel tanker and a cargo ship near Yemeni waters. Grainy video shows launches from coastal sites as fighters chant slogans and wave portraits of Khamenei, now hailed as a martyr whose death must be “answered on every sea.”

Western navies rushed additional warships and air patrols into the Red Sea corridor, warning commercial carriers to divert or risk becoming targets. Insurance premiums for vessels transiting near Yemen reportedly spiked, and several major shipping lines quietly suspended routes through the area, fearing that Iran’s message is only just beginning.

Strategists now fear the real prize for Tehran’s proxy campaign is the Bab al-Mandab strait, the narrow chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and Europe’s energy lifeline. If the Houthis, armed and guided by Iran, begin systematically menacing that passage, global trade could be held hostage to Khamenei’s revenge. The question haunting boardrooms and war rooms alike: is this a limited outburst, or the opening phase of an Iranian strategy to move the battlefield from the Gulf to the world’s shipping throat?