US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran the “troublemaker” of the Gulf region and said any attempt by its Yemen proxy Houthi rebels to follow through on their threat to block shipping transit in the Red Sea would be “problematic.”
“Anything that restricts shipping through the Red Sea would be problematic for the same reasons that the Strait of Hormuz is problematic,” Rubio told reporters in the Philippines on July 22 where he was meeting with Asian foreign ministers.
The top US diplomat’s comments came two days after the Iran-backed Houthis said they would impose a blockade on ships from Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and the world’s biggest oil exporter, if they tried to pass through the Red Sea, a move that threatened to raise more pressure on global energy markets.
Saudi Arabia has been redirecting millions of barrels of oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which accounted for one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies until the start of the US-Israeli war on February 28.
Four oil tankers changed courses in the Red Sea on July 22, according to LSEG and MarineTraffic ship tracking data. A day earlier, three oil tankers carrying Saudi oil to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea, apparently in response to the threats from the Houthis, which control the coast at the mouth of the Red Sea.
Rubio accused Iran of playing a central role in the widening tensions in the region, saying Tehran had sent personnel linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to Yemen.
“At the gist of that issue is the fact Iran is in the middle of it. You talk about the troublemaker in the region, it’s Iran,” Rubio told the ministers earlier in the day.
The United States carried out air strikes against Iran for an 11th consecutive night on July 21. Tehran has retaliated by attacking US military sites in the Persian Gulf region.
The resumption of hostilities has effectively torpedoed an interim deal that Tehran and Washington signed in June aimed at negotiating an end to the monthslong war.
Much of the battle over the past week has concentrated on the Strait of Hormuz, with the US military has reiterated several times that the strikes are “designed to continue degrading Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”
US President Donald Trump further threatened on July 22 to ratchet up the pressure on Tehran if it continues to interfere with vessel transit in the strait.
“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran,” he said in a post on social media.
The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow passage for ships entering or exiting the Red Sea that accounts for around 6 percent of the world’s seaborne-traded oil, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
A US-designated terrorist organization, the Houthis have previously attacked international ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea.
US and Israeli air strikes have degraded the Houthis’ fighting capabilities in recent years. The strikes were in response to the Houthis’ missile and drone attacks on Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea. In May 2025, the group signed a cease-fire deal with the United States.
The Houthis are a key member of Iran’s so-called axis of resistance, its loose network of proxies and militant groups against archfoe Israel. But the Houthis retain considerable autonomy and Iran has only limited control over the group’s actions, experts say.
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