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Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Thursday that they are ready to stand with Iran against the US and Israel, threatening to open a new front along the Red Sea that serves as a key global trade route.
The Iran-backed terror group said that it would be ready to enter the fight at a moment’s notice following Tehran’s warning that the war could spread to the Bab al-Mandab Strait if the US launches a ground invasion.
“We stand fully militarily ready with all options,” a Houthi leader told Reuters, suggesting the rebel group was in direct coordination with Iran.
“Until now Iran is doing well and is defeating the enemy every day and the battle is going in its direction. If anything contrary to this happens then we can assess,” he added.
The Houthis involvement in the war directly threatens the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a 20-mile wide passage located southwest of Yemen, where the rebel group is based.
The Houthis have previously waged war along the passage that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as a show of solidarity during the Israel-Hamas war.
The rebel attacks sowed chaos and disruptions at the key trade route between Europe and and Asia where $1 trillion worth of goods pass through every year.
Any attacks along the strait would further risk shipments coming out of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil, which has been redirecting its barrels through the Red Sea following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran issued a direct threat to take the Bab al-Mandab Strait on Wednesday if the US were to escalate the war by invading the Kharg Island.
“The Bab al-Mandab Strait is considered one of the world’s strategic straits, and Iran has both the will and the ability to create a completely credible threat against it,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sources told the Tasnim News Agency.
Tehran and Washington have continued to trade threats as thousands of US soldiers are being deployed to the Middle East, with President Trump refusing to rule out a ground invasion of Iran.
With Post wires
English (US)