Saudi Arabia Pushes Trump Admin to End Strait of Hormuz Blockade Over Fears About Repercussions: Report
Fears that Iran might take out rage over the blockade of its ports on Arab neighbors have led Saudi Arabia to urge a quick end to the blockade, according to a new report.
On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of Iranian ports while declaring the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping if unrelated to Iran. During the war with the U.S. and Israel, Iran had closed the strait by virtue of threatening to sink any ship passing through.
The Saudis fear that Iran or its allies might disrupt other shipping routes in revenge for the U.S. tactics, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Saudis fear that the Bab al-Mandeb checkpoint on the Red Sea, which is crucial to its oil exports, could be a target. The Bab al-Mandeb strait is a narrow passage between Yemen and the Horn of Africa that connects the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.
Saudi Arabia has routed oil that would have been exported through the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea.
The Houthis in Yemen control a section of the coast and could resume firing missiles at ships if Iran wants to attack trade with Saudi Arabia.
“If Iran does want to shut down Bab al-Mandeb the Houthis are the obvious partner to do it, and their response to the Gaza conflict demonstrates that they have the capacity to do it,” Adam Baron, an expert on Yemen and a fellow at New America, a policy institute in Washington, told The Wall Street Journal.
Iran has threatened to close Bab el-Mandeb, the gateway to the Red Sea, in response to the U.S. blockade of its ports. This could be carried out through its proxy forces in Yemen, the Houthis. pic.twitter.com/MLq0IySER9
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) April 13, 2026
The concept of bottling up shipping using the Red Sea was mentioned by Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency, which is allied with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said Iran views Bab al-Mandeb “just as it looks at Hormuz.”
“And if the White House thinks of repeating its stupid mistakes, it will quickly realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single signal,” he added.
Saudi officials have said they were assured by the Houthis they would not be targeted, but officials admit the situation is fluid.
“That would then be a way for Iran to escalate back, saying that if you’re going to restrict our oil exports, we will then disrupt your Yanbu terminal exports,” Erik Meyersson, the chief emerging markets strategist at Swedish bank SEB, said.
White House representative Anna Kelly meanwhile said that “President Trump has been clear that he wants the Strait of Hormuz to be fully open to facilitate the free flow of energy.”
“The administration is in frequent contact with our Gulf allies, who the President is helping by ensuring that Iran cannot extort the United States or any other country,” she added.
Iran is in a bind: If they fire on an American vessel or an American-escorted vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, you can be sure that all hell will be unleashed upon them.
One thing is for sure – this is not going to end well for the Iranian regime, or for their ally in Beijing. pic.twitter.com/l3Eouya8lm
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) April 13, 2026
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “provocative” U.S. actions could have “dangerous consequences,” according to CNN.
Iranian officials said the comment came during a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov said Russia is prepared to “help find solutions that would overcome the consequences of the unprovoked American-Israeli aggression against Iran,” per the Russian foreign ministry.
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