Saudi condemns Houthi blockade: How will the rest of the world be impacted?
Amid the disruption in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israel war on Iran, Saudi Arabia was attempting to facilitate oil flow through alternative routes through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Now that route is under threat from the Houthis. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its ships. The Houthis have a track record of disrupting shipping traffic in the Red Sea. Here is a closer look at the blockade and what impact it might have beyond Saudi Arabia.
What’s the latest on the blockade? The Houthis said on Monday that they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front against the US in its war with Iran and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf. In their statement, the Houthis said the declaration of the maritime embargo was “based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye'” and affirmed “the right of our great people to respond to the blockade with a blockade” and to “all escalation with escalation.” The Houthis also expressed “complete readiness for all options” and warned that “any foolish” Saudi act would be met with a “comprehensive and decisive” response.
“We call upon the people of our great nation to continue the general mobilisation and general call to arms, and to be fully prepared for all scenarios and developments and to support the fronts with fighters,” the group said. It was not immediately clear how the Houthis would implement the maritime blockade or whether it could signal a return to attacks on international shipping off the Yemeni coast.
The Houthis disrupted global commerce when they began attacking ships around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait following the launch of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. The attacks ended with the announcement of a “ceasefire” in Gaza in October 2025. The Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, including for oil exports worldwide. Between Yemen to the northeast and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa to the southwest, the strait is just 29km (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound vessels using the Suez Canal.