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Houthi has blocked the maritime route for Saudi Arabia's oil ships
Yemen-based Iran-backed group, Houthis, has vowed to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, citing the reason that Saudi Arabia has a military coalition in Yemen that’s led by the kingdom to say it had taken steps to protect vessels sailing the Red Sea.
The blockade, which puts at risk the flow of millions of barrels of oil, this is what the Houthis say in response to Saudi Arabia’s siege of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. Houthis ban on Saudi Arabia’s ships would be effective immediately, as per the militant group’s spokesperson Yahya Saree.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen began to implement operational measures to protect ships in Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. Turki Al-Malki, a spokesperson for the coalition, stated in a post on X that “All Houthi threats against transiting vessels will be dealt with swiftly and firmly.”
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In a separate statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry stated that the Kingdom would take all mandatory steps to safeguard its ships in accordance with International law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Houthi announcement adds to the risks facing oil supplies from the West Asia. The maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where around one-fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the US-led war on Iran, remains near a standstill as Tehran and Washington engage in new clashes. A blockage of the Red Sea by the Houthis would exacerbate the war’s impact on global oil trade as Saudi Arabia uses this route for the bulk of its crude exports.
