Iran has raised fresh fears of a global energy crisis as it threatened to block the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic area linking Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal, to Western shipping.
A source told Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency that the strikes, launched in response to the US-Israeli attacks, could target ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab strait. “If there is a need to control the Bab al-Mandab Strait to further punish the enemy, the Yemeni Ansarullah heroes are fully prepared to play an important role,” the source said, according to Tasnim’s report.
A military source previously told Tasnim that “if the enemy decides to take provocative steps in southern Iran, new fronts may open that will surprise the enemy”. “We are constantly monitoring the preparations and developments on the enemy front,” the source said.
“If the enemy wants to take action on land on the Iranian islands or elsewhere on our soil or impose costs on Iran with naval movements in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, we will open other fronts for them as a surprise so that their actions not only do not benefit them but will also double their costs.”
The strait is strategically located near the mouth of the Red Sea, connecting Asia to Europe through the Suez Canal.
It is also located between Djibouti and Yemen, where the military organization Houthis has previously attacked ships supporting Iran. The Iranian agency also said that the Yemeni Ansarullah movement is “ready to take control of the strategic strait”.
This comes after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is another important oil route through which about one fifth of the global oil trade passes. This has been a major issue in the conflict between the United States and Iran. The trade route has been blocked by Iran amid the ongoing conflict after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on several key Iranian sites on February 28.
Oil prices have already risen recently following the escalating war in the Middle East and could rise to $200 a barrel amid fears of further tensions. Following a series of attacks and counter-attacks on key oil and gas infrastructure across the region, Brent crude rose to nearly $120 a barrel on March 9 and has remained above $100 since March 13.
The International Monetary Fund estimates that every 10 percent increase in oil prices lasting more than a year would correspond to a 0.4 percent increase in global inflation and a 0.15 percent reduction in economic growth.
