The U.S.has hit back against threats to now block another Middle East waterway by Iranian terror proxy, the Houthis.Earlier this week, the group declared a complete ban on Israeli-owned ships using the Red Sea, declaring them to be "legitimate targets".The Red Sea and the waterway through its narrow Bab-el Mandeb strait, has become the main route for oil to ship out of the Middle East to Asia since the Strait of Hormuz has effectively stopped functioning as the main route of navigation for shipping.IRAN'S AFRICA ACTIVITIES POSE 'SIGNIFICANT THREATS TO US NATIONAL SECURITY'Houthi terrorists walk over British and U.S.
flags at a rally supporting Palestinians amid Houthi strikes on shipping near Sana'a, Yemen, on Feb.4, 2024.
(Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree posted on Monday, "We declare a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, and we consider all enemy movements to be legitimate targets."In a statement to Fox News Digital, a State Department spokesperson struck back: "The escalatory actions of Iran and their Houthi proxies are unacceptable. These dangerous actions only serve to further enflame tensions and further disrupt global supply chains.We will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz." Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital, "The Houthis have indeed risen to the challenge, at least verbally.
In common with much ‘Axis of Resistance’ rhetoric at present, the intention appears to be to leverage US political nervousness and market volatility, and to drive a wedge between the Americans and the Israelis."An aerial view of The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a sea route connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal.(Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2021)Fitton-Brown, a former U.K.
ambassador to Yemen added, "Provided the allies ke...