The Red Sea has become one of the world’s most serious geopolitical flashpoints. Yemen’s terrorist Houthi movement is targeting merchant ships in the Red Sea amid Hamas’s war with Israel. And Iran is threatening to escalate circumstances in the Red Sea like it’s never done before. That it coincides with the Houthis’ forays suggests Iran wants to send a message of its involvement in the Red Sea incidents. Clarksons, a ship broker, estimates roughly 20 percent of container shipping and 10 percent of seaborne oil has passed through the Red Sea in 2023.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 27, 2023 16:09 UTC