Iran Warns ‘Energy for Everyone or No One’: Is Tehran Preparing to Expand the Chokepoint War?
Iran is threatening other energy routes if the U.S. blockade continues. The next pressure point may be Bab el-Mandeb, not only Hormuz.
Iran’s warning that “energy exports will be for everyone or for no one” may be the most dangerous sentence of the current crisis. It suggests Tehran is thinking beyond the Strait of Hormuz and toward a wider chokepoint strategy that could threaten the Red Sea, the Arabian Peninsula and global energy markets.
The immediate context is the renewed U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and repeated U.S. strikes on Iranian coastal military infrastructure. Washington says Iran violated the ceasefire and attacked commercial shipping. Tehran says the U.S. broke the MoU, interfered in Hormuz management and blocked Iranian exports. Both sides now accuse the other of making diplomacy impossible.
Iran’s threat is not abstract. The Middle East has multiple maritime pressure points. Hormuz controls access from the Persian Gulf. Bab el-Mandeb controls the route between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Suez corridor links European and Asian trade. If Iran and allied forces in Yemen escalate together, the crisis could move from a Gulf problem to a global shipping emergency.
That is the logic behind the warning. If Iran cannot export freely, why should U.S.-aligned Gulf states export freely? If American forces can blockade Iranian ports, why should Iran not threaten routes serving American allies? It is a coercive argument, not a legal one. Its power comes from energy geography.
For Washington, this is precisely why the U.S. insists Iran cannot be allowed to control Hormuz. If Tehran normalizes the idea that shipping lanes are bargaining chips, every future crisis becomes a global hostage situation. The U.S. will likely respond by hardening naval patrols, expanding strikes on missile and drone infrastructure, and pressuring Gulf states to cooperate more openly.
For Gulf monarchies, Iran’s threat is terrifying. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait depend on maritime export systems. Even the hint of broader disruption raises insurance rates, delays shipments and scares investors. These states may support U.S. protection, but they also know that visible alignment with Washington can make them targets.
For Iran, the strategy is risky. Chokepoint pressure gives leverage, but it can also unify an international coalition against Tehran. China, India, Europe and many Global South states may criticize U.S. escalation, but they also need energy flows. If Iran threatens everyone’s supply, sympathy may evaporate quickly.
There is also the Houthi factor. Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has repeatedly shown it can disrupt Red Sea shipping. If the Bab el-Mandeb front reopens fully, the war becomes harder to contain. Saudi-Yemen tensions already appear to be rising again, adding another layer of risk.
The headline says Iran may close more routes. The deeper question is whether Tehran is bluffing, signaling, or preparing a genuine multi-chokepoint doctrine. If the answer is the third, the world may soon discover that the Strait of Hormuz was only the first pressure valve.