3D Render of a Topographic Map of the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, Red Sea. AFP
“If Sanaa decides to close the Bab al-Mandeb, then all of mankind and jinn will be utterly powerless to open it,” al-Ezzi wrote 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.”
Bab al-Mandeb connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is a key shipping chokepoint that channels sea traffic towards the Suez Canal. It is 29 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound shipments, Al Jazeera noted.
Al-Ezzi's comments came hours after Iranian authorities said they had closed the Strait of Hormuz once again, during a fragile ceasefire period with the United States.
Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said in a televised interview that Tehran would continue to threaten commercial vessels transiting the critical waterway, after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Council (IRGC) fired on ships attempting to pass on Saturday.
“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” Qalibaf, who is Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the United States, said.
Iran’s navy has warned ships against transiting the strait, a chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil normally passes. After a brief uptick in transit attempts on Saturday, vessels in the Persian Gulf held their positions, wary after two India-flagged ships were fired on mid-transit and forced to turn back.
Their retreat returned the strait to its pre-ceasefire status quo, threatening to deepen the global energy crisis and push the parties toward renewed conflict as the war entered its eighth week.
The fragile ceasefire in place between the US and Iran is due to run out by Wednesday. Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States, and Pakistani mediators were working to arrange another round of direct negotiations.
The US-Israeli war on Iran, in which Washington and Tel Aviv killed at least 3,468 Iranians since they unilaterally launched the war on 28 February, has created an "unprecedented shock" for the region's economies with no guarantee of a quick recovery, senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) regional director, Jihad Azour, told AFP.
"Food items already account for 45 to 50 percent of total imports in Yemen, and more than half of the population is already experiencing food insecurity," Azour said.
According to the IMF, inflation triggered by high energy prices would worsen the humanitarian situation in the poorest countries, such as Yemen.
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