Image Credits: US Centcom Iran threatened on Wednesday to expand disruption to regional energy export routes beyond the Strait of Hormuz after the United States renewed a naval blockade of Iranian ports and carried out a fresh round of military strikes. The warning came after the US military said it had launched new strikes to target Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by warning that “all other export corridors that benefit the US and its allies” could also be shut. Analysts cited in the source material said Iran appeared to be signalling it could use its Houthi allies in Yemen to threaten shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Together, the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb are key routes for global oil exports and commercial shipping, making any disruption a concern for international energy markets and maritime trade. “Regional energy exports are either shared by all, or denied to all,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The latest escalation follows the US decision to reimpose a naval blockade on Iranian ports while increasing military operations near the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said late on Tuesday that it struck dozens of military targets near the strait and along Iran’s coastline in a seven-hour operation, adding that the strikes continued on Wednesday. It said the operations were aimed at “continuing to degrade Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.” Washington also said Iran had attacked seven commercial ships over the past week, leaving nearly a dozen crew members dead, missing or injured. Bab el-Mandeb Strait Focus has also shifted to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and carries Saudi oil exports as well as a significant share of global shipping. Analysts said Iran has been