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TANVI RATNA: Iran war isn’t a distraction from America’s problems, it’s where they lead

Israel recognized Somaliland in December 2025 as Gulf states compete over Red Sea ports tied to U.S. communities

By Tanvi Ratna Fox News

Published April 4, 2026 7:32am EDT

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President Trump has to finish this mission in Iran, Jim Hanson says

'Hannity' panelists Jim Hanson and Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, discuss the downed plane in Iran and where the conflict is headed.

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Americans are asking a simple question: why focus on Iran when we have a crisis at home? It sounds reasonable. Immigration is strained. Fraud is rising. Enforcement systems are under pressure. Why escalate overseas?

Because the premise behind that question is wrong. It assumes the problems are separate. They are not. We already accept this in one part of the world. Violence and cartel control in Central America push migration directly to the U.S. border. When those systems stabilize, migration drops. Foreign instability does not stay foreign. It shows up here. The same thing is now happening through a different corridor, one most Americans have never been asked to look at.

Start with the map. The Iran warIran war is no longer confined to the Persian Gulf. Tehran has signaled it can open a second front at the Bab el Mandeb Strait. Most Americans have never heard of it. But they know the Red Sea. They know Saudi Arabia. They know the Suez Canal.

Bab el Mandeb sits at the other end of that same waterway, where ships leave the Red Sea and enter the Indian Ocean. It is not Iranian territory. It lies between Yemen, where Iran backed Houthi forces operate, and the Horn of Africa. That is exactly why it matters.

REP SETH MOULTON: AMERICA DESERVES BETTER THAN TRUMP’S VAGUE IRAN WAR PLANS

Iran does not need to control the strait. Through the Houthis, it can threaten traffic moving through it. That allows Tehran to pressure two global........

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