Houthis threaten Bab el-Mandeb blockade for Saudi ships, raising Iran war risks

Cairo,UPDATED: Jul 23, 2026 20:34 IST

The threat by Yemen's Houthi rebels to blockade Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could widen the Iran war and further disrupt global oil supplies and international trade. The Iran-backed group says it has closed the strait to Saudi-linked vessels in retaliation for the kingdom's blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital.

The Houthis said on Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, causing fires on both. Saudi Arabia's state-run news agency and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre also reported a fire on a tanker after an attack in the Red Sea. No casualties were reported. The Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and carries around 12 per cent of global trade, including a fourth of the world's container traffic. It has become even more important for Saudi oil exports after disruption in the Strait of Hormuz severely limited shipping out of the Persian Gulf.

The Houthis have said they would stop only vessels connected to Saudi Arabia or those going in and out of its Red Sea ports. But during a similar blockade announced against Israel over the war in Gaza, the rebels attacked many ships with little or no connection to that conflict. That has raised the possibility that the threat alone could make international shippers avoid the route.

While the Houthis do not control the part of Yemen's coastline along Bab el-Mandeb, which is held by their opponents in the civil war, they control territory less than 100 kilometres away. Three Houthi officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the group had spent months planning how to disrupt shipping in the strait. They said the plans included naval mines, explosive-laden boats, drones and helicopters that would allow fighters to board ships. According to the officials, vessels would first be warned not to cross designated boundaries in the strait, and military action would follow if they ignored the warnings. In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has shown that even sporadic attacks can effectively shut a critical waterway by increasing risks and insurance costs.

Clionadh Raleigh, founder of conflict monitoring service ACLED, said, "If Bab el-Mandeb comes under pressure at the same time as shipping in the Gulf, you have disruption around two of the world's most important maritime routes at once." Allison Minor, director of the Atlantic Council's Project for Middle East Integration, wrote in an analysis published this week that more than 7 million barrels of petroleum a day passed through Bab el-Mandeb in June, compared with around 4 million before the Iran war. Saudi Arabia has recently been exporting about 4 million barrels of oil a day through its Red Sea port of Yanbu, reducing the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has still unsettled economies around the world.

Saudi Arabia could still move crude to the market without using Bab el-Mandeb by sending up to 2.5 million barrels a day across the Red Sea to Egypt, where the SUMED pipeline can carry it to the Mediterranean. It could also send 1 million barrels a day through the Suez Canal. shippers could reroute around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, as they did at the height of the war in Gaza, but that would add one or two weeks to voyages and increase costs.

The threat also raises the risk of retaliation and a renewed conflict in Yemen. The Houthis attacked more than 100 vessels at the height of the war in Gaza before a US and Israeli air campaign ended those attacks in early 2025. Asked about the attack on the Saudi tanker on Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "I hope they'll stop. They shouldn't really do that." Speaking during a regional summit in the Philippines, he added, "I think the Houthis, frankly, got snookered into this thing by the Iranians. And they were smart to stay out of it, and they should stay out of it and they should stop." Saudi Arabia's military has said it will keep Bab el-Mandeb open. Maj Gen Turki al-Malki, a Saudi military spokesperson, said, "All Houthi threats against transiting vessels will be dealt with swiftly and firmly, as such threats are a blatant violation of international law and fall under acts of maritime piracy."

Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government into exile. Saudi Arabia led a coalition against the rebels and imposed an air and sea blockade on Houthi-held areas, though that eased in recent years after major fighting ended with a truce in 2022. The Houthis say Saudi Arabia struck Sanaa airport earlier this month to stop a flight carrying Houthi leaders back from Iran, where they had attended the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The plane landed safely at another airport. The Houthis then launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia's Abha Airport in what was described as the most significant confrontation in years. The rebels say closing Bab el-Mandeb to Saudi traffic is aimed at breaking the coalition's blockade.

Ahmed Nagi, a senior Yemen analyst at the Crisis Group, said the threat to Saudi Arabia also serves the interests of the Houthis' ally Iran at a time when the US has resumed daily airstrikes. "From Iran's perspective, opening additional pressure points across the region gives it more leverage," Nagi said. "The Houthis provide Tehran with influence over one of the world's most important maritime chokepoints." The latest threat has therefore put fresh focus on a crucial trade route at a time when regional shipping is already under pressure, while also exposing the risk of a wider confrontation involving the Houthis, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

With PTI Inputs

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