Qatar warns against ‘catastrophic’ Bab El-Mandeb closure

Intelligence summary

DOHA: Qatar on Tuesday warned of dire consequences if the vital Bab El-Mandeb waterway were to close, after a months-long blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and recent Houthi gains on the Red Sea coast. “The world is suffering enough with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, so we cannot also afford to add the Bab El-Mandeb into that equation,” Qatar foreign ministry official Ibrahim Al-Hashmi told reporters. He said a closure of the southern entrance to the Red Sea would be “catastrophic for