Iran threatens to block Bab al-Mandeb Strait

Iran has threatened to block the Bab al-Mandeb Strait-- a narrow waterway that controls sea traffic toward the Suez Canal-- if the United States and Israel escalate the war by attacking its islands, including Kharg. Tehran already has the Strait of Hormuz-- through which a fifth of the world's oil is normally shipped-- in a chokehold. Any disruption at Bab al-Mandeb could further the economic impact of the conflict in the Middle East.

About 12 per cent of global seaborne oil passes through the passageway connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, making it the world's fourth-largest shipping route. It is located southwest of Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthis are based, reports NDTV.

"If the enemy wants to take action on land in the Iranian islands or anywhere else in our lands or to inflict costs on Iran with naval movements in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman," Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported, citing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sources.

"We will open other fronts for them as a surprise so that their action will not only be of no benefit to them but will also double their costs," sources added.