Iranian threat for Houthis to block Bab al-Mandeb Strait would be ‘serious escalation’
Iran has said in recent days it could increase pressure on the US by asking its allies, Yemen’s Houthis, to block the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and further choke global trade.
Colonel Abbas Dahouk, a former senior military adviser for Middle East affairs in the US State Department, says it would be a “serious escalation” if Iran and the Houthis decided to disrupt international maritime trade through the strait.
“Bab al-Mandeb is another crucial waterway, and now because the Strait of Hormuz is semi-blocked to international traffic, the Red Sea became a workaround for oil exports, at least for Saudi Arabia and UAE,” Dahouk said.
Most energy exports that transit through the Suez Canal pass through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
“If it is disrupted, then definitely it will increase pressure not only in the region, but also on the international markets and the United States as well. The United States is thinking about this, and perhaps there will be retaliation somehow,” Dahouk added.
“It’s become extremely dangerous by most measures [to pass through the Strait of Hormuz]. This is the worst we’ve seen for a decade,” Dahouk warned.
“Functionally, the strait is somehow open, but companies are afraid to cross in and out of it, and that’s going to take some time to restore.”
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UKMTO says vessel seized in Gulf of Aden yesterday now in Somali waters
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says it has received reports that a vessel seized yesterday while passing through the Gulf of Aden off Yemen’s coast has now “been maneuvered into Somalian territorial water”.
UKMTO is now classifying the incident as a hijacking, it said.
Earlier, as we noted, UKMTO reported another incident involving a tanker and military forces east of Oman. That incident occurred on July 16, according to UKMTO.
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