Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to close “all other shipping routes that benefit the United States and its allies”, Iranian media reported, after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz and The US reimposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
“Regional energy exports are shared by all, or rejected by all,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s state news agency IRNA on Wednesday.
Analysts have said Iran has been signaling it may use its Houthi allies in Yemen to close the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, opening new avenues against Washington and putting two of the world’s most important energy arteries at risk.
A narrow strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, where Saudi oil exports and most of the world’s shipping traffic.
A senior Houthi official warned on Monday that the group was ready to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait – a move he said could cause oil prices to rise to US$200 a barrel – if Saudi Arabia continues to attack Yemen, according to a report on Iran’s Press TV website.
Houthi forces launch missiles towards Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under its control on Monday, breaking a four-year deal in the conflict between the kingdom and the Iran-backed group.
