Yemen's Houthi movement says it has widened its fight to the Red Sea, claiming missile and drone attacks on two Saudi oil tankers, Saudi Arabia confirmed one vessel, the Encelia, was struck off its Red Sea coast Wednesday, sparking a fire but no injuries, the BBC reports. There's no independent confirmation the second Saudi-flagged tanker, the Layla, was hit. The Houthis said the ships breached what they call a blockade of Saudi ports and vowed to keep targeting "the Saudi enemy" at sea. Several other tankers altered course, and Brent crude has jumped to more than $100 a barrel.
The Houthis control coastline along the narrow Bab el-Mandeb strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Maritime data and analysis firm Lloyd's List Intelligence says the Houthi attacks and continued disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz are a "double whammy" for oil shipments, the AP reports. Saudi Arabia has been sending millions of barrels of oil through a pipeline to Yanbu, its Red Sea port, but the Houthi attacks raise "questions on the viability of this route," Lloyds says.
- In a Truth Social post Thursday, President Trump threatened retaliation against both the Houthis and Iran. "A year ago the United States of America attacked, very powerfully, the Houthis, for their interference with commerce and trade, by shooting at ships. Since that time, and during our conflict with Iran, they have acted very responsibly," he wrote. "Unfortunately, now they are starting up again, shooting at two Saudi Arabian ships last night."
- Trump added: "Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves, who I am very disappointed with in that they have, until now, acted very professionally and smart."
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