NEW YORK, April 13. /TASS/. The Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah (Houthis) may close the Bab el-Mandeb if Iran feels the pain from a US naval blockade, said Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst at International Crisis Group, a Washington-based think-tank. "If the US moves to impose a blockade on Iranian ports and Iran starts feeling the pain, the Houthis are very likely to escalate in the Bab el-Mandeb," Associated Press (AP) quoted him as saying. The closure would put more pressure on the global shipping industry, the analyst warned. On April 2, Deputy Minister of Information in the Houthi government, Mohammed Mansour, said that Ansar Allah is considering closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait separating the Arabian Peninsula from Africa in the event of a broader escalation against Iran and Lebanon by Israel and the United States or if any Gulf state becomes directly involved in military operations in support of Israel or the United States. The closure of the waterway would inevitably trigger an energy crisis, pushing oil prices up to $200 per barrel. On April 7, the United States announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Iran and the United States held several rounds of talks in the Pakistani capital on April 11. The Iranian delegation was led by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, while Vice President JD Vance headed the US delegation. Both Tehran and Washington said following the negotiations that no agreement on finding a long-term solution to the conflict had been reached due to a range of disagreements. Later, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the US military will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13.
NEW YORK, April 13. /TASS/. The Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah (Houthis) may close the Bab el-Mandeb if Iran feels the pain from a US naval blockade, said Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst at International Crisis Group, a Washington-based think-tank. "If the US moves to impose a bl…
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International mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, according to a senior Iranian official cited in reports. The measure is described as intended to reduce hostilities and allow renewed talks on a prior interim agreement.
Both sides are assessing next steps in the current regional security situation.
Reports indicate that a US-Iran ceasefire has broken down amid renewed fighting, with the potential impact of mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, and Oman remaining unclear. Earlier diplomatic steps included a June memorandum of understanding between the parties for further negotiations and talks hosted in Geneva in February.
The summary also references Europe’s historical role in diplomacy, including the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna.
Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that his representatives had spoken with Iranian officials an hour earlier and that those officials wanted to make a deal to end the conflict, though he noted they had broken prior agreements and expressed uncertainty about whether one would be reached.
He added that people do not want to die and that Iran would need to proceed carefully to avoid further losses. The remarks come amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict that has involved casualties and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, with some social media users criticizing the repetition of similar statements.
Why the Iran-US ceasefire is falling apart Iran and the US have resumed fighting because they don’t see each other as ‘reliable negotiating partners’, says analyst Ali Vaez. Neither Iran nor the United States seems able to deliver a “knockout blow at an acceptable price” to the other side, and both know “they have no choice other than engaging in diplomacy”, but they’re not ready to make uncomfortable concessions, argues Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at International Crisis Group.
Vaez tells host Steve Clemons that Tehran and Washington are trying to “enforce their own interpretation” of the ceasefire agreement they signed last month. President Trump has become “frustrated” with diplomacy because he’s not seeing “the kind of quick results that he likes to see”, Vaez says.