An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has warned of “a chain-reaction response” in more critical shipping lanes, including in the Malacca Strait in Southeast Asia, after Iran declared another full closure of the Hormuz Strait before a fragile ceasefire is due.
“The era of imposing security from across the oceans has come to an end. Today, not only has the security of Hormuz and Malacca been guaranteed under the shadow of our power and that of our strategic partners, but the security of Bab al-Mandab [Strait] is also in the hands of the Ansar Allah brothers,” Ali Akbar Velayati, the adviser on international affairs to the Supreme Leader of Iran, wrote on social media on Sunday. Yemen-based Ansar Allah is also known as the Houthis.
“Any mischief will have a chain-reaction response,” he said.
The comments were made shortly after Iran declared a full closure of the Hormuz Strait on Saturday night, only one day after Tehran said the strait was open for commercial vessels.
In a statement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said the Strait of Hormuz would be closed until the US blockade was lifted, warning that approaching the strait would be considered “cooperation with the enemy” and vessels doing so would be targeted.
The renewed tensions at the Strait of Hormuz have deepened fears of a new round of conflict after the fragile ceasefire ends on Wednesday. Pakistani mediators are working to arrange another direct negotiation between Iran and the US.
Hu Bo, director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based think tank, said Velayati’s comments could be seen as an attempt to draw more attention to the Hormuz crisis.
