CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh joined anchor John Berman on Friday to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, which continue to cause spikes in global energy prices, including in the U.S.

“Diesel, of course, is key for farmers and manufacturers, and higher input costs could lead to higher food prices for consumers. The price of regular gas is also up, $4.30 a gallon. That is up 15 cents since just last week, John,” began anchor Sara Sidner after noting diesel hit an all-time high this week.

“All right, major developments overseas this morning, specifically in this region here near the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb in Yemen here. Yemeni sources say that Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have captured a key island on the Red Sea. Want to push in so you can see what I’m talking about there. They’ve captured this island, Perim Island, here, right in the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb,” Berman began, looking at a map of the region. He added:

This follows another major event just in the last 24 hours, where they took over this city right here, Mocha, you can see. So the Houthi rebels, again, Iranian-backed, moving ever closer to what looks like complete control of this crucial strait. With us now, CNN political and global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh. Sabrina, again, this is happening at a fairly rapid pace. I mean, I woke up and the city had been taken by the Houthi rebels, and then just a few hours later, we get word that this island falls. What kind of situation does that create for the United States and U.S. allies?

“Well, I think you captured it perfectly. I mean, yesterday, we were looking at reports of Houthi rebels advancing on the city of Mocha, which is a strategic port on the southwest corner of the Red Sea. That port would allow the Houthis greater control of the Bab al-Mandeb — that’s 50 miles from it. And now, today, we’re waking up and seeing that they’ve actually taken control of that critical island as well,” Singh explained, adding:

So what you’re seeing here is potentially the war in Iran spilling over into the region, and opening up a new front when it comes to trade and shipping lanes. The Strait of Hormuz, of course, is still being threatened by Iran, but Iran’s very powerful proxy group, the Houthis, now potentially controls another critical strait and shipping lane through the Red Sea.

And we know that Saudi Arabia has had to, in fact, reroute a lot of the oil that it would get out through the strait — it was using the Red Sea and trying to even export it up through the Suez Canal. With the Houthis now taking control of some of these two critical places, I think shipping is going to be further threatened, which means the global economy is going to be further upended.

“Yeah, let me give people a sense of exactly what you’re talking about here. You can sort of make it out on our map. All the way up here, this is the Strait of Hormuz, right, and this is what has effectively been constricted, if not closed, for the last six months with the U.S. war with Iran,” Berman replied, going back to the map.

“So if there’s not oil shipping getting out there, and now Iranian-backed rebels have much more complete control over the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb, where Saudi Arabia was moving so much of its oil, then it just makes the situation that much worse. Now, we’ve got word overnight, Sabrina, also, that the United States now has some hundred — what they’re calling — military advisors in Saudi Arabia, in theory helping the Saudis, who are backing the Yemeni government, battling the Houthi rebels. When the U.S. sends a hundred advisors somewhere to help, what does that mean?” he followed up.

“I think this administration is taking this very seriously. They understand that, should the Houthis be able to control just this critical waterway between the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb, not only is that going to upend the global economy, that is going to raise prices here at home. And Sara, of course, was talking about the price of oil, the price of diesel today — that’s going to go further up if the Houthis can threaten shipping and prevent Saudi, which is a critical oil exporter, from getting its oil out into the region,” Singh continued, adding:

It’s going to raise prices. And right now, what Saudi’s basically doing is having to go up through the Suez Canal, through the Mediterranean, and reroute oil through Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, all the way to get to Asian and European markets. That is extremely costly for shippers and, of course, is making oil prices skyrocket everywhere around the world.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post CNN’s Singh Warns Escalating New Front In Middle East Could ‘Upend the Global Economy’: Trump is ‘Taking This Very Seriously’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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