Iran says it could call on Yemen’s Houthi allies to shut the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, opening a new front against Washington and putting two of the world’s most vital energy arteries at risk, according to Reuters.
The news agency reports that: “Tehran is widening the conflict and seeking to increase pressure on Washington by extending the threat to global trade and energy supplies beyond the Gulf.”
This threat to global trade became more tangible when a senior Yemeni official warned on Monday that the country’s armed forces were prepared to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Impact on Global Trade
Such an outcome would be grave for businesses and governments around the world, sending oil prices soaring to $200 a barrel, according to the Iranian official who cautioned there would be consequences if Saudi Arabia continued to attack Yemen, according to a report on Iran’s Press TV website.
Mohammed al-Farah, a member of the political bureau of Ansarullah, the Houthi resistance movement, said: “If the current situation aggravates, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz will be closed in an operational alliance. Oil prices would then skyrocket to $200 a barrel in a dreadful shock,” he warned.
“Iran is willing to go all the way,” Middle East scholar Fawaz Gerges told Reuters. Reuters says that Tehran is showing Washington it can threaten both chokepoints simultaneously, which would transform the conflict from a bilateral confrontation into a challenge to the sea lanes underpinning global energy trade.
Gerges said: “Now (Tehran) is escalating both near and wide. The message is that not only Hormuz, but Bab al-Mandab, is at risk.”
Comment from Russell
Chris Don, Head of Communications at Russell commented:
“Russell has written a few articles and presented to maritime audiences over the last 12 months on the Houthis’ potential stranglehold over global commerce passing through the Bab el-Mandeb. The Iran-backed group has launched attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, saying it was targeting vessels linked to Israel in support of Palestinians.
“At the time, the hostilities forced major shipping companies to reroute vessels around southern Africa, which prompted U.S. and British airstrikes and an international naval mission to protect shipping. Iran is potentially raising the stakes in a hugely significant game of global geopolitical poker, which will have massive ripple effects and unknown consequences for trade and business interruption. It seems that Iran doesn’t just have one card to play, it has two and both could be aces.”
