Saudis beg Trump to end Hormuz blockade as Iran threatens SECOND strait dubbed the ‘Gate of Tears’

Saudi Arabia has warned Donald Trump that it may close the remaining Middle East oil routes in retaliation for Iran’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Riyadh fears Tehran could deploy its Houthi proxy to Yemen to disrupt the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a critical artery that carries 10 percent of global trade between Asian and European markets via the Suez Canal.

Trump is facing increasing pressure from Riyadh to lift the blockade of Hormuz and return to negotiations with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned on April 5 that Iran ‘views Bab al-Mandeb the same way it views Hormuz’.

If Washington ‘dares to repeat its stupid mistakes, it will soon realize that the global flow of energy and trade can be disrupted with a single move,’ he added.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Galibaf, has warned that Tehran may curtail the Bab al-Mandeb (meaning ‘Gate of Tears’ in Arabic), which is famous for its treacherous navigation.

‘How much of global oil, gas, wheat, rice and fertilizer shipments pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait?’ On April 3, he asked the following question: ‘Which countries and companies provide the highest transit volume in the Bosphorus?’

Only 28 miles wide at its narrowest point, the strait is the gateway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and the only sea route connecting Asian and Persian Gulf oil to the Suez Canal and European markets.

Saudi Arabia fears Tehran could retaliate by deploying its Houthi proxy in Yemen to disrupt the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a critical artery through which 10 percent of global trade passes between Asian and European markets via the Suez Canal

Houthi supporters chant slogans and raise weapons during an anti-US and Israeli protest in Sana’a, Yemen, May 9, 2025

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, April 8.

At its peak in 2023, more than nine million barrels of crude and oil (almost one in ten barrels consumed globally) were passing through per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Houthis’ 2023-24 campaign has more than halved that figure to around four million barrels a day, forcing major carriers including Maersk to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope.

Despite the blockade of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia managed to increase its oil exports to the pre-war level of approximately seven million barrels per day and transferred crude oil to the Red Sea through the desert.

Closing Bab al-Mandeb would threaten these gains and add to the kingdom’s woes while Ormuz remains constrained.

Adam Baron, a Yemen expert and fellow at New America, a policy institute in Washington, told the Journal: ‘If Iran wants to close Bab al-Mandeb, the Houthis are the obvious partner to do so, and their response to the Gaza conflict shows they have the capacity to do so.’

The Houthis have largely managed to stay out of the current conflict after being bombed by the United States in a 53-day operation that resulted in a ceasefire last year.

The warning came after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called on Trump to pursue military action against Iran, describing it as a “historic opportunity” to reshape the Middle East.

According to reports last month, the Crown Prince argued that Iran poses a persistent threat to Gulf security and that allowing the regime to limp along would leave it free to threaten the region again.

A Yemeni soldier stands guard in front of the commercial ship ‘Al-Nuba’ docked for maintenance near Yemen’s strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Yemen, Sunday, April 5, 2026

Strait of Hormuz, a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, seen from space

Children of Yemen’s Houthi supporters wear army uniforms, carry fake weapons and chant slogans during a demonstration in solidarity with Iran on April 3, 2026 in Sana’a, Yemen

While Gulf allies want a decisive weakening of Iran, the Saudi side insists that a possible solution must neutralize Tehran’s missile capabilities and ensure that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be effectively blocked in the future.

Iran’s ability to threaten shipping remains real despite US-Israeli attacks; intelligence indicates that significant missile, drone and coastal defense capabilities still survive.

Trump’s blockade sent shockwaves through energy markets, sending U.S. gas prices above $4 nationwide and causing global oil to rise above $100 a barrel.

The president has closed Hormuz and not allowed other foreign ships to enter or leave the waterway since Monday after previously threatening to renew military strikes against Iran.

Peace talks in Pakistan led by JD Vance collapsed after the US banned Tehran from enriching uranium for 20 years and failed to reach a long-term nuclear agreement.

Trump and Tehran could return to the negotiating table in Pakistan later this week as Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies pressure both sides to step back from the brink.

U.S. wholesale prices rose last month as the Iran war increased energy costs.

The producer price index, which measures inflation before it reaches consumers, rose 0.5 percent from February and 4 percent from March 2025, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

Children of Houthi supporters in Yemen wear army uniforms, carry fake weapons and chant slogans during a demonstration in solidarity with Iran on April 3.

The year-over-year increase was the largest in more than three years, with energy prices rising 8.5 percent from February alone.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices increased by a modest 0.1 percent compared to February and 3.8 percent compared to the previous year. The increases in wholesale prices were smaller than economists had predicted.

The increase complicates matters for the Federal Reserve, which faces intense pressure from Trump to lower its benchmark interest rate, while some policymakers are now inclined to raise rates as rising energy costs deepen the threat of inflation.

Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be heading.

Economists are also watching it because some of its components, particularly measures of health care and financial services, flow into the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.

The Labor Department reported last week that rising gasoline prices pushed consumer prices up 3.3 percent last month from a year earlier, the largest annual increase since May 2024.

Compared to February, consumer prices in March increased by 0.9 percent, the largest increase in nearly four years.