IRGC Quds Force Chief Says Bab el-Mandeb Could Become Like Hormuz if Israel Keeps Up Lebanon, Gaza Operations

Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could come to resemble the Strait of Hormuz if Israel continues its military operations in Lebanon and Gaza. Markets are watching the risk of rising tensions around the Middle East’s key maritime shipping routes.

Walter Bloomberg reported on June 1 that Qaani said the Axis of Resistance would make shipping conditions in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait comparable to those in the Strait of Hormuz if Israel’s operations in Lebanon and Gaza continue.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a strategic maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It is one of the main routes for global crude and cargo shipments moving through the Suez Canal.

The US and Iran have recently been holding talks on extending a ceasefire, restarting nuclear negotiations and restoring normal conditions in the Strait of Hormuz. Disputes over the Lebanon front and control of sea lanes, however, continue.

Markets say that if tensions spread from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, volatility could increase in oil prices, global supply chains and commodity markets.