00:20They call it the Gate of Tears, and tonight Iran is moving to shut it.
00:27The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow corridor of water between Yemen and the Horn of Africa,
00:34a passage so critical, so irreplaceable to global trade,
00:39that disrupting it wouldn't just hurt one country or one region.
00:43It would shake the entire world economy.
00:46And that is exactly what Iran is now threatening to do.
00:51For months, all eyes were on the Strait of Hormuz,
00:55the Persian Gulf choke point through which a massive share of the world's oil and gas flows.
01:01Markets were tense. Shipping companies were nervous.
01:05But the world was managing.
01:07Then Iran escalated.
01:09Reports now indicate Tehran is moving toward a full blockade of Bab el-Mandeb.
01:16And the moment that became clear, oil prices surged past $94 a barrel, just on the threat alone.
01:24Let that tell you everything about how serious this is.
01:30So what exactly is Bab el-Mandeb, and why does it matter this much?
01:35The Strait sits between Yemen on one side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the other.
01:41It connects the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea,
01:46which then flows up through the Suez Canal and into Europe.
01:50In simple terms, it is the gateway between Asia and Europe for maritime trade.
01:56Around 10 to 12 percent of all global trade passes through this corridor every single year.
02:03Oil, liquefied natural gas, container ships packed with manufactured goods,
02:10electronics, food â everything moves through here.
02:14The U.S. Energy Information Administration has called it one of the most critical energy choke points on the planet.
02:21But here is what makes Iran's move even more dangerous right now.
02:26When tensions around Hormuz began rising, Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia quietly began rerouting their exports.
02:35They expanded their east-west pipeline systems, pushing crude from eastern oil fields to Red Sea ports like Yanbu,
02:44specifically to bypass Hormuz.
02:46In other words,
02:48Bob El-Mandeb became the backup plan, the escape valve, the alternative route keeping Gulf energy flowing to the world.
02:56And now, Iran is targeting that too.
03:00Both choke points.
03:02At the same time.
03:04That is not a coincidence.
03:06That is a strategy.
03:08Now here's the question everyone is asking.
03:11Iran does not physically sit on Bob El-Mandeb the way it sits on Hormuz.
03:17So how does it threaten to close it?
03:20Two words.
03:21The Houthis.
03:22Yemen's Houthi movement, long backed by Tehran, has already proven during previous crises that it can disrupt Red Sea shipping
03:31at will.
03:32Drone strikes on commercial vessels, missile attacks, forcing major shipping companies to reroute entirely around the Cape of Good Hope
03:41in southern Africa.
03:42That rerouting adds weeks to delivery times and billions to shipping costs.
03:48Even the perception of risk is enough.
03:51Insurance premiums explode, freight rates skyrocket, supply chains that the world relies on begin to buckle.
03:58Now, imagine that happening simultaneously at Hormuz and Bob El-Mandeb.
04:06Experts are already calling this combination one of the most serious maritime risks facing global trade in decades.
04:14For India, the impact would be direct and immediate.
04:19A massive share of India's energy imports and exports move through these corridors.
04:25Longer routes mean higher costs.
04:28Higher costs mean inflation.
04:31And inflation hits every household.
04:34The Gate of Tears earned its name from shipwrecks and treacherous waters centuries ago.
04:40Tonight, it risks earning that name all over again.
04:45But this time, the Tears would not just belong to sailors.
04:49They would belong to markets, economies and ordinary people across the entire world
04:55who are about to feel the cost of a war they never asked for.
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