{"id":1895,"date":"2026-07-20T14:08:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1895"},"modified":"2026-07-20T14:08:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:08:42","slug":"yemens-iranian-backed-houthis-say-they-will-block-saudi-shipping-at-red-sea-gateway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1895","title":{"rendered":"Yemen\u2019s Iranian-backed Houthis say they will block Saudi shipping at Red Sea gateway"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CAIRO (AP) \u2014 Yemen\u2019s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels<\/span> on Monday announced they are imposing a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia<\/span> in retaliation for a blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on Sanaa International Airport<\/span>, threatening another vital waterway for global shipping and raising fears of renewed conflict.<\/p>\n

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A Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a video statement that the maritime ban against Saudi Arabia will be effective immediately, describing it as an \u201cequation of \u2018an eye for an eye.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

There were few details, but the deputy head of the Houthi media office, Nasruddin Amer, said on X that the Bab al-Mandeb strait will be closed in response to what he called Saudi Arabia\u2019s \u201cunjust blockade on Yemenis for over 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bab el-Mandeb<\/span>, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is the gateway to the Red Sea through which around 12% of the world\u2019s trade usually passes. A fourth of global container trade transits through the 32-kilometer (20-mile)-wide strait to and from the Suez Canal.<\/p>\n

The Houthis earlier demonstrated their ability to disrupt shipping there when they targeted ships for months over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with over 100 vessels attacked. It is unclear whether the Houthis will resume that level of attack against neighboring Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

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There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia. The kingdom already faced pressure as it uses its East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz<\/span>, which remains in the grip that Iran imposed shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28. The Saudis have been sending millions of barrels of crude oil a day through the pipeline.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia leads a coalition against the Houthis and imposed an air and sea blockade on Yemen in 2015. Yemen\u2019s civil war began in 2014 when the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A truce was reached in 2022.<\/p>\n

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That truce has been threatened in recent days after the Houthis said the Saudis struck the Sanaa airport in an attempt to affect a flight carrying Houthi leaders back from Iran, where they attended the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/span> The plane landed safely at another airport.<\/p>\n

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The Houthis then launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia\u2019s Abha International Airport in the most significant confrontation in years.<\/p>\n

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