Middle East Monitoring Desk Islamabad
For months, the Houthis have been escalating their actions, going so far as to announce a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia. As recently as July 29, they claimed to have targeted a Saudi oil tanker accused of “violating the naval blockade” in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea since last month in response to what they described as a Saudi siege on Yemen, an allegation Riyadh has denied.
This is a lever of power that the Iranian-backed Yemeni movement has now mastered, utilizing missiles, drones, naval mines, and fast attack craft—tools that allow it to exert influence over one of the world’s most strategic trade routes without possessing a conventional navy.
The Houthis declared a formal naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20, 2026, shifting their asymmetric campaign to target Red Sea energy corridors. By early August, the group claimed multiple missile and drone strikes on Saudi-linked oil tankers near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the northern port of Yanbu.
Reuters reported that shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, the key maritime chokepoints in the Gulf, reduced significantly on Wednesday from the previous day, shipping data showed.
Just two vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz, including a Panama-flagged coal-laden carrier entering the waterway and another commodity Marshall Islands-flagged vessel exiting, shipping data from Kpler showed, down from eight vessels a day earlier.
(Houthi supporters demonstrate in Sanaa, Yemen, on July 17, 2026, against restrictions imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on Houthi-controlled areas—restrictions the group describes as a blockade.)
Roughly 130 to 140 ships would typically transit the waterway before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28 and Iran responded by closing the strait.
In the Bab el-Mandeb, only one commodity vessel, a Bahamas-flagged dry bulk carrier, crossed the strait on Wednesday, Kpler data showed, down from 20 the previous day.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Wednesday they had launched a missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker off the coast of the kingdom’s Red Sea port city of Yanbu and another missile attack on a Saudi oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden.There was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia on either incident.
At least 30 Yemeni government troops were killed in attacks on military camps in Yemen’s Marib and Hadramout provinces on Thursday, government sources said, adding that the death toll could rise.
The Iran-aligned Houthis later claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes targeting what they described as Saudi military deployments in the two provinces.
The Houthis said they struck what they described as Saudi troop concentrations in the Al Ruwayk, Al Abr and Al Thaniyah areas with ballistic missiles and drones. The group said hundreds of Saudi-aligned fighters were killed or wounded, and that military camps, weapons depots and vehicles were destroyed.
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Independent sources could not immediately verify the Houthi account.
The Houthis said they launched the operation after detecting what they described as a large Saudi military build-up ahead of an escalation against areas under their control.
Yemen’s health minister ordered medical facilities in Marib and Hadramout to increase readiness to treat wounded soldiers. He condemned the attacks, saying they targeted military positions in the Al Ruwayk and Al Abr areas.
The U.S. Mission to Yemen expressed condolences to the families of Yemeni soldiers killed in Marib and Hadramout, saying the attacks were “yet another example” of what it called Houthi “terrorism” against the Yemeni people.
Strategic Implications of the Blockade
Asymmetric Power: The Houthis leverage anti-ship ballistic missiles, drones, and fast boats to disrupt shipping without a traditional navy.
Energy Chokepoint: The Bab el-Mandeb Strait handles millions of barrels of oil daily, compounding global supply pressures alongside constraints in the Strait of Hormuz.
Rerouting Risks: Saudi Arabia has attempted to divert tanker traffic toward northern Red Sea routes, prompting Houthi threats to expand their operational zone.
Responses and Regional Fallout
Saudi and Coalition Stance: Riyadh condemned the embargo as a violation of international law, with the Saudi-led coalition vowing firm measures to secure commercial navigation.
Global Economic Concern: Shipping associations and international monitors report reduced traffic volume and heightened risk premiums across the southern Arabian Peninsula corridors.
