The oil price, which had just dipped due to Iran's potential 10-day ceasefire announcement, has now rebounded because of this news. Gotta say, Iran's playing hardball right now, fully taking control of the US-Iran battlefield. On one hand, they're holding the Strait of Hormuz hostage, and on the other, they're letting the Houthis disrupt the Red Sea shipping routes. With this, they've got both pipelines firmly in their grip. The Houthis have stayed quiet for nearly five months during the entire conflict, deliberately avoiding commercial ships. Reuters reported on July 16 that Iran instructed the Houthis to shut down the Red Sea shipping line if the US dared to attack Iran's power grid. Overall, it feels like Iran's mix of pressure and negotiation is aimed at rolling Trump back to the pre-July 9th state, before he announced the ceasefire was off the table. Whether it's to buy time or drag the US back to the negotiation table, this move is definitely in Iran's favor.