The Houthis said the embargo on Saudi ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait was in retaliation for Saudi attacks on Yemen. Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA
July 20 (UPI) -- The Houthi militants in Yemen announced a blockade on maritime navigation for Saudi Arabia beginning Monday.
The embargo blocks Saudi Arabia from transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the Houthis announced in a statement on the state-run SABA news agency. The strait is the most direct way for ships along Saudi Arabia's west coast to access the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea and vice versa.
Such a blockade threatens to further exacerbate the oil supply troubles sparked by the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, which has limited transits of the Strait of Hormuz, CNBC reported. The outlet said Saudi Arabia had diverted millions of barrels of oil each day to an export terminal on the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia has backed the internationally recognized government of Yemen in its 12-year-long civil war with the Houthis, which are supported by Iran.
