DOHA, September 10. /TASS/. The defense of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait requires a more efficient international partnership aimed at protecting one of the world’s most important waterways, President of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Rashad Al-Alimi said.
"We must not allow the Hormuz crisis to repeat itself in the Bab el-Mandeb," the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted him as saying. "Yemen will not become a platform for geopolitical blackmail in the interests of Iran."
Al-Alimi claimed that Tehran was using the military campaign by the rebel Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement to shift the burden of the conflict to neighboring countries.
"This poses a threat to fuel and food supplies," he said.
Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the Yemeni foreign ministry has sent a letter to the UN Security Council regarding the military campaign by the Houthis, supported by Iran, and its potential consequences for international shipping and trade in the Red Sea.
In turn, Houthi Spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam said that international trade in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait area remains safe and stable. In his words, Houthi military operations "have limited objectives and are defensive in nature.".
