Iran’s military warned it would block all trade through the Red Sea if the United States continued its naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The threat was made by the head of Iran’s military central command center in a statement featured on Iranian state television. In it, the commander argued that the blockade “creates insecurity for Iran’s commercial vessels and oil tankers,” and constitutes “a prelude” to violating the ceasefire.
“The powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea,” Ali Abdollahi said, AFP reported.
Since the war started, statements from the Iranian regime have regularly overstated their capabilities. With Iran’s conventional Navy gone, it has little ability to exert control over the Red Sea as it has over the Strait of Hormuz. It would likely have to enlist the support of its allied Houthis in Yemen, a group that has so far largely declined to enter the war.
Iran exerts far less control over the Houthis than the other members of the Axis of Resistance do, due to the Houthis’ unique nature. The Houthis are the only members of the group who came to power entirely without Iranian support, only enlisting Tehran’s help after the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni Civil War in 2015.
Despite the groups refusal to enter the war outright, the specter of the Houthis joining still serves as a daunting prospect. The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia is pushing President Donald Trump to lift his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz out of fear that it could trigger the Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in response.
THE UAE’S HAWKISH TURN WAS 15 YEARS IN THE MAKING
Additionally, the newest carrier strike group to advance on Iran, the USS George H.W. Bush, will circumvent Africa rather than go through Suez to avoid the Houthis.
The closing of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would represent a nightmare for global trade, vastly increasing the negative impact on energy markets and the world economy.
