Tehran cites strategic chokepoint as tensions rise over potential U.S. military deployments.
On Wednesday, Iran warned that it would carry out military operations in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait if the United States invades Persian territory.
“Iran constantly monitors enemy movements in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Its forces will open surprise fronts to ‘multiply the costs’ of any ground aggression on any of its islands or elsewhere in its territory,” an Iranian military source said, according to the Tasnim agency.
“The Bab al-Mandeb Strait is one of the world’s strategic passages, and Iran has both the will and the capability to generate a fully credible threat against it. If the Americans seek foolish solutions for Hormuz, they should not add Bab al-Mandeb to their problems,” the Persian source warned.
The Bab al-Mandeb Strait is one of the world’s most strategic maritime passages, as it links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and, therefore, with the Indian Ocean. The strait serves as a mandatory gateway for the shortest route between Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal.
Previously, on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon plans to send 3,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Infantry Division to the Middle East to support U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran that have been underway since Feb. 28.
For days, there has been speculation about the possibility that Washington could deploy troops to locations such as Kharg Island, where Iran’s main oil export terminal is located, or to other parts of Iranian territory to carry out various missions.
Although the Bab al-Mandeb Strait is located about 2,000 kilometers from Iranian territory, on the eastern shore of this maritime passage operates the Ansar Allah movement (the Houthis), an ally of Iran that exercises de facto control over large parts of Yemen.
The Houthis, who rose up in 2014 against the Yemeni government and established an administration in Sanaa, are part of the “Axis of Resistance,” a regional network of armed groups opposed to Israel and the United States.
At the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis launched missiles and drones toward Israel and attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Their campaign disrupted the maritime route in Bab al-Mandeb and the Red Sea.
In the current U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, the Houthis have expressed their support for the Persian nation but have not resumed their attacks on maritime traffic so far.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
