The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen says it would respond with force
DUBAI/RIYADH – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday, July 20, they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front against the United States in its war with Iran and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
The escalation comes after one of the deadliest periods in the war for US troops. The Pentagon on Monday identified two US soldiers who were killed when Iran attacked an American base in Jordan on Friday, while they also said they had found unidentified remains that could be those of a third soldier reported as missing in action. Separately, a fourth service member was killed in northern Iraq during the “controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.”
After the Houthis announced their blockade, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in a statement that it would respond to them with force, and also that it began implementing protection measures for its ships moving through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key export route for Saudi oil after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis made their announcement despite signs that Tehran and Washington want to resume diplomacy to halt a worsening cycle of attacks that has all but wrecked a fragile interim agreement signed last month. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said mediators had presented “proposals” to Tehran, signaling that diplomatic contacts remain active, but gave no details.
