Another strait to get shut after Hormuz? Houthis ready to pull trigger in Iran war
India Today
While the Strait of Hormuz is choked amid the war on Iran, the focus is now on another strait in the region, the Bab el-Mandeb. The Yemeni Houthi group, part of Tehran's "Axis of Resistance", has warned its "fingers are on the trigger". The Houthis joining the war could choke yet another crucial artery of global trade.
"Will the Houthis join the Iran war?" "Why all is quiet on the Yemeni front". These were some of the headlines global outlets carried earlier this week as Iran kept retaliating against joint American and Israeli strikes. The questions are valid and asked with a sense of anxiety. If the Yemen-based Houthis, a militant group long backed, armed and nurtured by Tehran were to join the war, it could get another crucial waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, choked. This could be catastrophic for global trade amid a shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis, who were curiously staying out of the war on Iran, have just said that their "fingers are on the trigger". They said they were "ready to respond at any moment should developments warrant it". Experts have suggested Houthis to be part of "Iran's three-stage strategy" in the region.
Simultaneously, Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported that the Houthis and other "resistance groups" were on full alert and might join Tehran's ongoing fight, warning that it could lead to closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passage at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula that controls traffic for sea vessels accessing the Suez Canal via the Red Sea.
Like the Strait of Hormuz, which remains choked amid reports of Iran blocking the passage of several cargo ships, the Bab el-Mandeb is an equally critical maritime route.
The Bab el-Mandeb links the Red Sea and effectively the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, and further to the Atlantic Ocean. The route is key to the Asia-Europe trade. If the Houthis, who have long threatened and even tried to choke Bab el-Mandeb, move to block the route, the fallout could be as severe, especially at a time when the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf remains choked amid the war.
"The war's about to get wider and uglier," says Lebanese-Australian podcast host Mario Nawfal, reacting to the Houthi threat.
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