Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

RICHARD MINITER: Biden Twiddles His Thumbs While Iran Closes In On Critical Shipping Lane

(Screen Capture/NBC News)

Iran is about to choke off America’s use of the Suez Canal, through which threads almost one-third of all global shipping-container traffic.

If Iran succeeds, the supply-chain disruptions will shock the U.S. economy. Expect climbing prices, lengthening shortages, and fewer jobs created.

The map tells the story. The Suez Canal empties into the Red Sea. The mouth of that sea is dominated by Yemen in the east and Sudan in the west.

Iran already enjoys working control over Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthi forces have sent drones and rockets to attack U.S. Navy ships and many container ships. Yemen-launched Houthi drones recently demonstrated a range of nearly 1,000 miles by striking a container ship in the Indian Ocean off of Tanzania’s coast.

Iran is now consolidating its control of the opposite Red Sea coast, in war-torn Sudan. Port Sudan is the largest port facility on the Red Sea’s western coast, and it is firmly in the control of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a rebel commander who has welcomed visits from Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials and promoted Islamist ideology strikingly similar to positions staked out by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran has been supplying Gen. al-Burhan with designs and parts for Iran’s Mohajer 6 drones. Thanks to those drones, al-Burhan’s forces and their allies have chased the Rapid Response Forces from Omdurman, a city directly across the Nile from Sudan’s capital. Key bridges have already been taken and the capital may fall in the coming weeks. Iran would control Africa’s third-largest country.

One of Iran’s plans is using Gen. al-Burhan’s charismatic presence and trained troops to create another Hamas. (Hamas clones are an Iranian specialty. Iran has already produced one in Iraq, known as the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces.) In Sudan, the Hamas clone is called “Kizan.” That group has ties to Hamas, Hezbollah, and African branches of Al Qaeda. Its rhetoric, ideology, and tactics are identical.

Iran’s strategic goal is to dominate the Red Sea and shut America and Europe out.

Once Western ships can no longer safely transit the Red Sea, the Suez Canal will be worthless. Sending ships around Africa could double shipping costs and add weeks of delays. Consumer prices would instantly reflect that reality, worldwide.

Iran’s move will also help Russia and hurt Ukraine. Without Suez, Ukraine will find it harder to sell its fertilizer to Saudi Arabia and India. Russia is the world’s largest maker of fertilizer. Ukraine is a top-five producer. If Iran lets Russian ships pass, while swarming all others, Ukraine will lose a fortune in export revenue. Cue another White House-Congress fight over Ukraine funding.

None of this will improve President Biden’s reelection chances.

Iran aims to do to Joe Biden what it did to Jimmy Carter. Why is the White House letting it happen?

Richard Miniter is the author of Losing bin Laden and other books.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.