MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. A potential blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by Yemen’s rebel Ansar Allah movement (the Houthis) would deal a serious blow to the container shipping market via the Suez Canal, Vice President of the Russian International Affairs Council Mikhail Margelov told TASS, adding though that it would not have a critical impact on oil supplies.
"The closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would primarily impact not oil shipments, but the flow of cargo moving in both directions through the Suez Canal, non-oil freight in the first place. Saudi Arabia has virtually no major oil refining capacity on its Red Sea coast, and neither do Egypt or Sudan. Therefore, this poses a threat primarily to commercial shipping and represents a major blow to the container shipping market," he said.
Mohammed al-Farah, a member of the political bureau of the Ansar Allah movement, threatened earlier to block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in response to the resumption of US strikes on Iran.
The United States resumed large-scale strikes against Iran overnight into July 8, accusing it of violating agreements regarding the Strait of Hormuz. On July 13, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Tehran had never violated the memorandum signed with the US and that Washington is responsible for its non-compliance.