Houthis Announce Naval Blockade on Saudi Arabia

Yemen's Houthi movement just pulled global shipping deeper into the Iran conflict, announcing what it called a naval "embargo" on Saudi Arabia that could threaten a key Red Sea chokepoint and rattle energy markets. The Iran-aligned group said the move, framed as "an eye for an eye" response to a Saudi-led blockade of Yemen, effectively opens a new maritime front as the US wages its war against Iran, Reuters reports.

• A full shutdown of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the gateway to the Red Sea, could block most Saudi exports and slice an estimated 7% from global oil flows—on top of the disruption caused by blockades in the Strait of Hormuz.

The deputy head of the Houthi media office said the 20-mile wide strait, which is used by around a quarter of global container trade, will be closed to the Saudis, the AP reports. Sources told Reuters last week that the Houthis had already positioned missiles and drones along the strait and were awaiting orders from Iran. Saudi Arabia has been sending millions of barrels of oil a day through its East-West Pipeline and its Red Sea port of Yanbu since the start of the Iran war, reports the New York Times. Analysts say Asian countries will be hit hardest by increased transportation costs if Saudi Arabia is forced to reroute its oil exports through the Suez Canal and around southern Africa.