US strike near Iran's Bushehr plant puts Bab el-Mandeb strait at risk

A US strike hit a power substation near Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant on July 22–23, causing a multi-hour outage. Reuters reported on July 16 that Iran told the Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait — a vital shipping chokepoint — if US forces struck Iran's power network. That scenario is now confirmed. Whether the Houthis act on the warning remains the pressing question.