Yemen Threatens to Close Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Warns of $200 a Barrel Oil Amid Saudi aggression

A senior Yemeni official has warned that the country’s armed forces are prepared to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, sending oil prices soaring to $200 a barrel, if Saudi Arabia persists in its aggression against Yemen’s critical national infrastructures.

Mohammed al-Farah, a member of the political bureau of the Ansarullah resistance movement, stated on Monday that Washington is provoking the Riyadh regime to strike Yemen, emphasizing such an incitement would never be in the interest of the US.

“If the current situation aggravates, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz will be closed in an operational alliance. Oil prices would then skyrocket to $200 a barrel in a dreadful shock,” he said.

Farah noted that the Sana’a government’s response to any clear aggression by Saudi Arabia or its proxy forces will be decisive, and will target sites deep inside the kingdom.

The Bab al-Mandeb Strait is a vital shipping chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, funneling maritime traffic toward the Suez Canal. At its narrowest point, just 29 kilometers wide, it restricts vessel movement to two lanes for inbound and outbound traffic.

Saudi strike on Sana’a airport blatant violation of humanitarian law
Meanwhile, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council held the United States and Saudi Arabia fully responsible for the new spate of aggression and siege against the Yemeni nation, and bombardment of civilian facilities, including Sana’a airport, following a period of de-escalation.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi emphasized that the Saudi attack on Sana’a airport constitutes a clear violation of humanitarian law, and falls within the framework of daily war crimes being perpetrated against the Yemeni people in the form of siege and starvation.

Separately, Ali al-Qahoum, a member of Ansarullah’s political bureau, vowed that Yemeni Armed Forces will soon retaliate against the Saudi aggression, and the push to break the 11-year-old siege on Yemen will never stop, and that enemies are fully responsible for any potential fallout.

“The Saudi regime’s aggression against Sana’a airport and its targeting of civilian infrastructure entail grave consequences. Riyadh must embrace all possible repercussions,” Qahoum stated.