The deputy foreign minister of the Houthi government in Sanaa has warned that the group may close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen if Donald Trump continues to obstruct peace, reports Al Jazeera.
“If Sanaa decides to close the Bab al-Mandeb, then all of mankind and jinn will be utterly powerless to open it,” Hussein al-Ezzi wrote in a statement on X.
“And therefore, it is best for Trump—and the complicit world—to immediately end all practices and policies that obstruct peace, and to show the respect required for the rights of our people and nation,” he added.
The Bab al-Mandeb connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is a key global shipping chokepoint that channels maritime traffic towards the Suez Canal. At its narrowest point, the strait is 29 kilometres (18 miles) wide, limiting navigation to two channels for inbound and outbound shipments.
It is one of the world’s most important routes for global seaborne commodity transport, particularly crude oil and fuel shipments from the Gulf to the Mediterranean, as well as goods bound for Asia, including Russian oil.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
