OIL prices rocketed yesterday after a raid by Iran-backed Houthi rebels tried to paralyse another oil route that is vital for the West.
The price of benchmark Brent Crude soared four per cent to $105.26 a barrel after militants captured the key port city of Mocha in Yemen.
Houthi forces also advanced on islands in the key Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Closing that would mean a fresh blow to oil supplies of western economies including Britain — adding to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively shut by Iran since February.
US president Donald Trump’s forces are still struggling to secure safe passage for tankers through the waterway that usually carries 20 per cent of the world’s oil.
Trump has struggled to contain the economic fallout from his war with Iran and is imposing a naval blockade to halt its oil exports.
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The Houthis yesterday said they would “respond to the blockade with a blockade” and launched strikes on the US’s ally Saudi Arabia.
Salvos of the rebel force’s drones and missiles wounded at least 73 people – including children – in Saudi cities and oil plants on Tuesday.
It comes as tit-for-tat strikes escalated in recent days as Washington and Tehran blitzed several targets in the region.
The regime reportedly used electro-optical missiles for the first time in the war.
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Iran said it used them to strike two US warships and eight oil tankers on Wednesday, as well as a military base in Jordan, according to The Telegraph.
The air assaults came in response to Washington blitzing five Iranian oil tankers, according to Tehran.