The Houthis say they may block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait! Iran presents a new trump card; the USS Ford aircraft carrier is revealed to be evacuated, the Revolutionary Guards: Reflecting the true situation of

# National Business Daily

The Houthi movement in Yemen stated that it may block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in support of Iran, and will only attack ships of countries that have participated in the attacks on Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. After the Strait of Hormuz was closed, cruise ships rerouted to the Red Sea for transportation need to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a press release on the 19th that relevant strategic petroleum reserves have started to be released to the market after its member states unanimously decided to tap 400 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserves.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported on the 20th that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran issued a statement saying that the US Navy's USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier was deployed to West Asia under the widespread attention of Western media, but failed to provide support for the US military in the region and instead withdrew from the battlefield, which reflects the "desperate and humiliating" real situation of the United States and Israel.

US Naval Institute News reported on the 17th that the USS Gerald R. Ford, which participated in the large-scale military operations of the United States and Israel against Iran, is preparing to leave the Red Sea and sail to a US naval base in Greece for maintenance due to a fire last week.

## Iran Unleashes Its New Ace in the Hole

Citing foreign media reports, Reference News stated that as the White House claimed to have destroyed 90% of Iran's missile capabilities, Tehran unleashed its new ace in the hole - the never-before-used Sejjil-2 and Haj Qassem missiles. The Sejjil-2 equipped with cluster warheads poses a challenge to Western air defense systems and also indicates that the IRGC may be prepared for a long-term confrontation. Experts estimate that there may be hundreds of such missiles in stock, and their mobility has reduced the effectiveness of US pre-emptive strikes.

Earlier, Trump said that Iran had "very few missiles left". He stated that the United States is continuously launching strikes on factories producing missiles and drones. Despite the continuous good news from the US military, Iran has not run out of missiles, and the IRGC has even started to launch strikes with new types of missiles, specifically the Sejjil-2 ballistic missile.

In addition, the IRGC also announced the first use of the medium-range ballistic missile Haj Qassem, which is named after Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force who was killed by the US military in 2020.

Military expert Dmitry Kornev said: "There is very limited information about the Haj Qassem. It is a quite modern solid-fuel missile with a range of about 1,400 kilometers. All signs indicate that it is equipped with a maneuverable warhead, which makes it very difficult to intercept. The use of solid fuel shows that the missile has a novel design, because Iran only test-fired its first medium-range solid-fuel missile Sejjil-1 in 2008. Iran's deployment of this weapon from its inventory indicates that the intensity of its missile strikes has increased."

The Sejjil-2 missile can be equipped with a unitary fragmentation warhead or a cluster warhead. The latter contains submunitions of different sizes and uses, which may include decoy munitions.

The expert explained: "Cluster warheads are extremely difficult to intercept because they actually contain a large number of submunitions. To ensure interception, all submunitions must be shot down, which requires consuming a large number of interceptor missiles. Such warheads are particularly effective against scattered targets, but their use in urban areas may cause heavy casualties."

Military expert Yuri Lyamin pointed out: "The Sejjil-2 equipped with cluster warheads can be used to strike airports, air force bases, as well as vulnerable industrial facilities such as oil refineries and chemical plants. Even small shrapnel is enough to disable aircraft or helicopters."

Developed in the 2000s, the Sejjil-2 missile is a successor to the Sejjil-1, with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers. The specific parameters of its warhead weight have not been disclosed, and external estimates put it at 1,000 kilograms or even 1,500 kilograms.

Lyamin estimated that Iran may have stockpiled hundreds of Sejjil-2 missiles over the past 15 years. He believes that the use of these new missiles may indicate that Iran is increasing its bets on this conflict.

Lyamin believes that Tehran's starting point is to fight a protracted war. He explained: "In this case, it is crucial to use various types of missiles in a balanced manner to avoid an imbalance where certain types of weapons are exhausted while others are idle."

In addition, the expert believes that Israel may have no way to deal with the new missiles - after all, the country has activated all its anti-missile defense systems to try to intercept as many targets as possible since the beginning of the conflict.

## Houthi Movement in Yemen Says It May Block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait

According to Xinhua News Agency, RIA Novosti reported on the 20th that Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Political Bureau of the Houthi movement in Yemen, said that the group may block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in support of Iran.

Al-Bukhaiti told RIA Novosti that the Houthi movement in Yemen is considering all possible options to support Iran in resisting the military strikes by the United States and Israel. If it has to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Houthi movement will only attack ships of countries that have participated in the attacks on Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is a "chokepoint" linking the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, and is known as a "maritime corridor" connecting the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa.

Image source: Baidu Encyclopedia

Citing a report from the Russia Today website on March 19, Reference News stated that Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Political Bureau of the Houthi movement, said that if a war breaks out in the Middle East, the Houthi movement will only strike aggressive countries and will not affect neutral countries such as Russia.

He said that the group does not advocate war but will join the fight when forced to do so.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, he said: "We will only strike the aggressors. If other countries maintain a neutral stance, we will not touch them."

Al-Bukhaiti pointed out that since the escalation of the situation in the Red Sea region in November 2023, the targets of the Houthi movement's strikes have only been Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom.

He added that the operations against Israel are aimed at putting pressure on it to force it to end military operations in the Gaza Strip and lift the humanitarian blockade.

Earlier reports stated that the Houthi movement did not rule out the possibility of intervening in the current Middle East conflict, but has not yet participated in military operations against the United States and Israel.

## Breaking News! 400 Million Barrels of Strategic Petroleum Reserves Released to the Market

According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a press release on the 19th that relevant strategic petroleum reserves have started to be released to the market after its member states unanimously decided to tap 400 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserves.

The press release said that the petroleum reserves released this time will be mainly crude oil in general, and refined oil products in Europe. At the same time, American countries will supplement market supply by increasing production.

The press release also said that as countries further refine their respective shares, the specific allocation ratio of crude oil and refined oil products and the supply scale from public reserves may still be adjusted.

Affected by the escalation of the situation in the Middle East, the price of London Brent crude oil futures rose to more than $116 per barrel shortly after the opening on the 19th, and the prices of European natural gas and oil also rose significantly in the early trading on the same day.

The IEA announced on the 11th that its 32 member states unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserves to cope with the tight global oil supply caused by the US and Israeli military strikes on Iran. This is the largest coordinated release of petroleum reserves by the IEA to date.

Source: National Business Daily

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