Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has increasingly relied on the Red Sea to get its crude to market as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been striking ships. Houthi efforts to close the 28km Bab el-Mandeb channel have made that route more complicated.
In a statement on Friday, the Houthi armed forces boasted of gains along the coast without mentioning the island, Mokha or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. They vowed “escalation for escalation” in the confrontation with Saudi Arabia, while declaring that “maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels”.
Still, markets are nervous, and experts have described the Houthis as highly unpredictable. Crude prices this week soared again above US$100 a barrel, giving Tehran more leverage in any talks.
YEMEN’S GOVERNMENT SHOCKED BY SLOW SAUDI RESPONSE
The Houthis have been attacking Saudi shipping on the Red Sea since declaring a blockade in July, as well as hitting oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. The rebels said they acted in response to the kingdom’s years long blockade of Houthi-held parts of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia struck the airport in the port city of Mokha after the Houthis seized it on Thursday, a Houthi broadcaster said. There were no reports of damage or deaths.
A senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognised government told the AP they were stunned that the Saudi air force did not try to prevent the capture of Mokha, about 80km from the strait. He assessed that Saudi Arabia didn’t get a green light from the US to embark on a large-scale air campaign.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to speak to the media, also blamed “lack of coordination” between Yemen’s army and multiple allied militias, saying it gave the Houthis “a priceless opportunity”.
Shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait had fallen by about 60 per cent since the Houthis began attacking some ships there in late 2023 and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Shipping increased this year as Saudi Arabia sought alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, but renewed Houthi threats have “curtailed” that activity, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
That has forced Saudi Arabia to find yet another alternative, sending its oil north out of the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, either via the Suez Canal or a pipeline through Egypt, a far longer route for its clients in Asia. The Houthis have threatened that route as well, striking a Saudi vessel in the north of the Red Sea in late August.
