Satellite imagery shows Bab el Mandeb Strait, a key shipping waterway and the gateway to the Red Sea, Jul 12, 2026. (Photo: NASA Worldview/Handout via REUTERS)
28 Jul 2026 07:05AM
(Updated: 28 Jul 2026 07:10AM)
RIYADH: Yemen's internationally recognised government on Monday (Jul 27) said it is ready for any escalation with Houthi rebels after the Iran-backed group launched attacks and a maritime blockade targeting Saudi Arabia.Fears are growing that renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels in Yemen may further destabilise the Arabian Peninsula and rattle the region's precarious fault lines."At the end of the day, we are prepared for any escalations," Yemen's foreign minister designate Afrah al-Zouba told reporters during a briefing in the Saudi capital Riyadh.The comments came just hours after the Houthis said they launched fresh drone strikes targeting Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure in response to incursions by the kingdom's drones.
Al-Zouba said the government was increasingly worried that the Tehran-backed rebels were copying Iranian manoeuvres in the Strait of Hormuz to gain control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial passage into the Red Sea off the Yemeni coast.The narrow waterway has been a critical artery for delivering vast quantities of Saudi crude to the international market, after maritime traffic was largely choked off by fighting in the Strait of Hormuz.Last week, the Houthis announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and have claimed attacks targeting Saudi tankers and oil infrastructure in the kingdom.
