Houthis Announce Naval Blockade Against Saudi Arabia

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement has announced a naval blockade targeting Saudi Arabia, escalating tensions in a conflict that has disrupted Red Sea shipping since the group began attacking commercial vessels in November 2023.

In a statement released on Monday, the Houthis’ armed forces said they were introducing “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’, effective immediately.”

Military spokesman Yahya Sare’e said the group had anti-ship missiles, reportedly provided by Iran, ready to target vessels that violate the blockade. The Houthis said the measure was in response to a Saudi strike on Sanaa International Airport and what they described as “an unjust and oppressive siege” imposed on Yemen.

Maritime security company Ambrey warned that Saudi-flagged, Saudi-owned and Saudi-operated vessels, along with ships sailing to or from Saudi Arabia and its Red Sea ports, now have “a strong affiliation with the Houthi target profile” and face a high risk of attack.

Although no commercial ships had been targeted immediately following the announcement, Ambrey said the threat significantly raises the risk to the maritime sector. The company also cautioned that shipping firms calling at Saudi ports could become targets, similar to the Houthis’ previous “blockade” of vessels linked to Israel. It advised operators to review their exposure to the Houthi target profile and carefully assess whether high-risk voyages should proceed.

A few hours after the Houthi announcement, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry rejected separate allegations that the kingdom was blockading Yemen. The ministry stated that it would “take all necessary measures to safeguard its vessels” in accordance with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The latest threat is particularly significant because Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its East-West Pipeline and the Red Sea export terminal at Yanbu to move oil, reducing its dependence on the conflict-affected Strait of Hormuz.

The announcement also follows reports last week that Iran had instructed the Houthis to prepare to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if the United States launches strikes against Iranian power infrastructure.