The head of the Gulf Co-operation Council has condemned Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels for threatening to close the Bab Al Mandeb strait, warning it would endanger global trade, energy supplies and regional security.
Addressing the UN Security Council, GCC Secretary General Jasem Al Budaiwi accused Houthi rebels of escalating tension through "irresponsible and hostile" statements, including threats against the Bab Al Mandeb strait and "false accusations" against Saudi Arabia.
“This is a dangerous escalation ... and a direct threat to the freedom of international navigation and to the security of one of the world's most strategically important maritime choke points,” Mr Al Budaiwi told Council members on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Washington would destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran fired on a ship crossing the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tension after the Houthis threatened to attack another key maritime energy corridor.
The warning came as five oil tankers altered their routes in the Red Sea to avoid the Bab Al Mandeb, a day after Houthi rebels threatened to block Saudi oil exports, raising concerns about global energy supplies.
Iran's disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has fuelled inflation worldwide, while the Houthi rebels' threat to ships near Bab Al Mandeb helped drive oil prices to their highest level in nearly six weeks.
Mr Al Budaiwi urged the international community to respond decisively.
“We call for a firm international response that unequivocally rejects these Houthi threats,” he said, adding that no party should be allowed to use international waterways “as instruments of coercion or as a means of undermining international peace and security".
The GCC chief also accused Iran of continuing attacks against Gulf states, saying they “pose a grave danger to the GCC member states and to regional and international peace and security.”
He said the attacks put the global economy at risk and ultimately harmed the Iranian people by diverting national resources towards “escalation and conflict”.
“This Iranian conduct is unacceptable,” Mr Al Budaiwi said.
Meanwhile, Tehran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, repeated Tehran's warning that it would not allow other countries to export oil if Iran were unable to do so.
“The equation of this war is clear: either all or none,” Mr Ghalibaf said in a social media post on Wednesday.
