A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has issued a stark warning that key international shipping lanes beyond the Strait of Hormuz could be at risk if the United States and Israel further escalate military actions.
Ali Akbar Velayati, adviser to Mojtaba Khamenei, said a single misstep by either country could severely disrupt global energy flows and international trade. According to Iran’s state-run Press TV, he described the Bab al-Mandeb Strait—connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea as “equally strategic as the Strait of Hormuz” in the eyes of Tehran’s “unified command of the resistance.”
Velayati’s warning follows US President Donald Trump’s threat to “unleash hell” on Iran if it does not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday. He added that while the US has learned some lessons from Iran’s history, it “has yet to understand the geography of power.”
The Bab al-Mandeb Strait, off Yemen’s coast, is a vital maritime chokepoint for shipping en route to the Suez Canal. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, aligned with Tehran, have previously threatened to target the waterway in solidarity with Iran. During Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping caused widespread disruption to international trade.
