Iran threatened on Sunday to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, in addition to the Strait of Hormuz, if US President Donald Trump carries out his threats to attack the country's energy infrastructure .
Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said in a post on the American company “X” platform that “the unified command room of the resistance front views Bab al-Mandab as it views Hormuz.”
Bab al-Mandab is a strategic maritime passage that represents one side of a triangle of strategic crossings for transporting energy and food after the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal. It is located between Yemen in Asia and both Djibouti and Eritrea in Africa, and it lies between the five continents.
Velayati indicated that the White House will soon realize that the flow of energy and global trade can be disrupted with a single signal if it thinks of repeating its “stupid mistakes.”
On March 2, Iran announced restrictions on navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to attack any ships attempting to cross it without coordination due to US-Israeli attacks against it.
In a post published Sunday on his platform “Truth Social”, Trump indicated, threateningly, that April 7th would be “Power Stations and Bridges Day” in Iran.
Trump said: “Open the Strait (of Hormuz) or you will live in hell.”
He also threatened Iran in statements to Fox News, saying he would “ blow everything up and take control of the oil” if efforts to reach an agreement between the two sides failed.
Mohammad Reza Aref, the first vice president of Iran, said in a post that Trump is trying to “justify his inability to provide childcare and healthcare services to his people under the pretext of war.”
Aref responded to Trump’s threats to “return Iran to the Stone Age,” saying that “anyone who sacrifices the prosperity of his people in order to threaten others is still living in the Stone Age.”
The Iranian official stated that “Iran has chosen a different path; it continues to build even under pressure.”
