When Yemen’s Houthis threatened a ‘maritime embargo’ on Saudi ports last week, the risk of war returning to the Arabian Peninsula – and of Bab al-Mandeb becoming the second major oil chokepoint under threat – suddenly became real, reports the Middle East Eye.
The escalation began after Saudi Arabia attacked Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport more than two weeks ago, potentially pulling the country deeper into the expanding US-Israeli war on Iran.The attack followed the Houthis’ decision to reopen Sanaa airport to direct flights from Iran.These would have been the first such flights since 2015. Riyadh would have viewed them as a major red line and a sign of growing Iranian influence, potentially including the direct transfer of weapons.
The Houthis have since said they launched missiles at the Saudi cities of Jazan and Yanbu. They also reported targeting two Saudi oil ships last week, with Riyadh confirming one attack in the Red Sea.Saudi Arabia has diverted more than 70% of its crude exports from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea port of Yanbu following the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
The renewed fighting threatens the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passage connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.Shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb has not come to a complete halt, however, with some tankers carrying crude to Asia still passing through the waterway.Any sustained disruption would place a second major oil chokepoint under pressure.