Iran Adviser Says Bab el-Mandeb Won't Return to Normal, Ties Hormuz Reopening to US Concessions

A senior military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader has said the situation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait will not return to what it was before, pointing to the advances made by Yemen's Houthi forces in the Red Sea region.

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi made the remarks in an interview with Iran's state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

Safavi said the United States had failed to achieve its objective regarding the Strait of Hormuz and now faced what he described as a new problem at Bab el-Mandeb. He said the Ansar Allah forces had made gains not only in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait but also in the Red Sea, and that they too would not return to the earlier situation.

On the Strait of Hormuz, Safavi said its reopening was contingent on Washington accepting Iran's conditions, describing the arrangement as a quid pro quo. He said the waterway would not be reopened through US military pressure, and noted that Iran had not closed the strait even during the eight-year war.

Safavi added that the process unfolding was in Iran's favour and that the Americans would be forced to accept Iran's conditions.

The remarks come amid continuing tensions over shipping in the Red Sea involving Yemen's Houthi rebels.