Yemen’s Houthis to impose maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia

The Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemeni group, said they would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, putting at risk the flow of millions of barrels that the kingdom exports via the Red Sea, Bloomberg reports.

The blockade is in response to what the group says is Saudi Arabia’s siege on the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. The ban on Saudi ships would be effective immediately, the group’s spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a video published on his account on Monday.

Saudi energy officials were not immediately available for comment.

The announcement adds to a slew of risks facing oil supplies from the Middle East. Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where about a fifth of the world’s oil flowed before the US-led war on Iran, remains near a standstill as Tehran and Washington stage tit-for-tat attacks. A disruption to supplies through the Red Sea, the route currently used by Saudi Arabia for bulk of its crude exports, would exacerbate the war’s impact on global oil trade.

The kingdom diverted its oil supplies to key Red Sea port of Yanbu following the outbreak of the war and Iran’s effective closure of Hormuz. Those exports, which rose to a record 4.19 million barrels a day last month, have helped limit the disruption to global supplies, but the route remains fragile as it exposes tankers to the Houthi militants who have previously attacked ships in the Red Sea.

The group disrupted shipping near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea for months starting in late 2023. Traffic along the waterway nearly came to a standstill, forcing shippers to abandon the shortest route between Asia and Europe.

Global benchmark Brent crude on Monday swung on the prospects for further escalation and detente in the conflict. It was trading 0.2% higher at $88.23 a barrel as of 2:06 p.m. in London.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Houthis have been on the rise since last week when Riyadh attacked the airport in Sana’a. Houthis then attacked a southern Saudi airport, the worst flare-up between them since a ceasefire in 2022.

Pic.: The Economist

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs