Yemen's Houthi rebels have announced a new "total ban" on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea, as the conflict between Iran and Israel flared again on Sunday following Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.
The Red Sea blockade, if enforced, would once again disrupt global shipping lanes © Mena Today
Yemen's Houthi rebels have announced a new "total ban" on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea, as the conflict between Iran and Israel flared again on Sunday following Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.
"We consider all movements of the enemy to be legitimate military targets," Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree declared in a statement, threatening to "respond to escalation with escalation."
The Iran-backed group also claimed to have fired a "missile barrage" at Tel Aviv earlier in the day, the latest in a series of long-range strikes the Houthis have launched against Israel since the regional conflict erupted.
The announcements underscore the increasingly coordinated nature of Iran's network of proxies. As Iranian ballistic missiles target northern Israel and Hezbollah continues its attacks from Lebanon, the Houthis are simultaneously threatening maritime trade routes and striking Israeli cities, a multi-front pressure campaign designed to stretch Israel's defences and signal that Tehran's reach extends from Yemen to the Mediterranean.
The Red Sea blockade, if enforced, would once again disrupt global shipping lanes that handle a significant share of world trade, with potentially serious consequences for energy markets and supply chains.
By Siad Elmah
Iran and its allies ramped up pressure on the US and allied Gulf states on two fronts on Sunday, with Saudi-backed forces retreating in their battle against the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen and Iran itself firing drones at US bases in Bahrain.
Yemeni forces fighting for the internationally recognised Saudi-backed government said on Sunday that they were withdrawing from an area overlooking the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, leaving the Iran-aligned Houthis in control.
Bahrain intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks, it said on Sunday, while Tehran said it had struck a US military base in the Gulf kingdom amid uncertainty over a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.
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