The deputy foreign minister of the Houthi government in Sanaa has warned that the rebels may close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen if Trump continues to obstruct peace, Al Jazeera reports.

“If Sanaa decides to close the Bab al-Mandeb, then all of mankind and jinn will be utterly powerless to open it,” Hussein al-Ezzi wrote in a statement on X.

“And therefore, it is best for Trump — and the complicit world — to immediately end all practices and policies that obstruct peace, and to show the respect required for the rights of our people and nation.”

Bab al-Mandeb connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is a key shipping chokepoint that channels sea traffic towards the Suez Canal. It is 29km wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound shipments, Al Jazeera notes.