Yemen
Houthi Blockade Claims First Tanker Casualty
Yemen's Houthi movement said it struck two Saudi-flagged oil tankers in the Red Sea on July 22, the first tanker attack since it declared a blockade on Saudi-linked shipping two days earlier. Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the vessels, the Encelia and the Layla, had violated the blockade order, according to Al Jazeera.Only the strike on the Encelia is confirmed. The Saudi Press Agency said the tanker caught fire near its bow while transiting the Red Sea and that all crew members were safe, citing an official at the kingdom's Transport General Authority, according to Al Jazeera. SPA gave no update on the Layla. The claimed strike on that vessel remains unverified and should be treated as a Houthi claim rather than a confirmed event, according to Portnews.The Encelia had departed Saudi Arabia's Yanbu terminal on July 20 before it was hit roughly 70 nautical miles southwest of Al Shuqaiq,…
Houthis Announce Immediate Naval Blockade on Saudi Arabia
Yemen's Houthi rebels declared an immediate maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia on Monday, putting the kingdom's Red Sea oil exports at risk, according to Bloomberg.Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree framed the move as retaliation for what the group calls a decade-long Saudi siege on Yemeni ports, airports, and the capital, Sana'a, describing it as an "eye for an eye" and warning that any Saudi response would be met with comprehensive escalation, according to The Jerusalem Post.The announcement follows a truce that had held since 2022 but broke down this month: Saudi Arabia struck Sanaa International Airport on July 13 to block a flight carrying a Houthi delegation returning from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's funeral, and the Houthis responded with missiles against Abha airport in southern Saudi Arabia, according to ABC News.The Houthis have not detailed how the blockade will be enforced. That said, sources close to the group told…
Yemen’s Houthis Warn Saudi Arabia of New War
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi threatened a major escalation against Saudi Arabia in a televised speech Thursday, warning of a "different war" if Riyadh continues what he called its "siege and aggression" against Yemen, according to Al Bawaba. He said Saudi oil facilities and other strategic infrastructure would become targets for missile and drone attacks if the confrontation continues, per Al Bawaba.The speech follows the July 13 strike on Sanaa International Airport, which Yemen's internationally recognized government said targeted the runway to stop an Iranian aircraft from landing with a Houthi delegation returning from the Feb. 28 funeral of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that day, according to NBC News. The government's limited military capacity means Saudi Arabia likely carried out the strike, per FDD, a Washington-based think tank, which said in its own analysis that the Houthis have been pushing the bounds of Saudi tolerance…
Houthis May Soon Close Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Yemeni Houthis have said they could close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the coming days, threatening a second major chokepoint alongside Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.A member of the Houthi-aligned Ansar Allah movement's political bureau, Mohammed al-Farah, said the group intends to close Bab el-Mandeb in tandem with Iran's closure of Hormuz, warning that combined pressure on both straits could push oil prices to 200 dollars a barrel, EADaily reported. A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader has said separately that the wider Iran-aligned network retains the capability to block both waterways at once, a claim analysts describe as a coordinated pressure campaign against the United States and its Gulf allies rather than isolated brinkmanship.The threat follows this week's escalation in Yemen. The internationally recognized government struck the runway at Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport on July 13 to block an Iranian flight, and the Houthis retaliated with missiles…
Houthi Assault, Unclaimed Ship Attack Follow Saudi Coalition’s Naming of Hodeidah as Strike Target
Yemen's Houthi movement launched its deadliest ground assault in years near Hodeidah on July 5, and an unclaimed attack on a cargo ship followed within a day. The rapid escalation on both land and sea came just 24 hours after Saudi Arabia's coalition publicly named Hodeidah's port among the targets it would strike if Houthi "provocations" continued. The sequence began on July 3, when Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree threatened a "comprehensive response targeting airports and vital interests on land and at sea," after accusing Saudi warplanes of trying to block an Iranian civilian flight from landing in Sanaa. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki answered the next day, warning of "unprecedented determination and force" against any attack on the kingdom and naming Hodeidah port, the Ras Isa oil terminal, as-Salif port, and Sanaa International Airport as infrastructure now exposed to potential strikes, according to Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye. Roughly…
Bint Jbeil Clash Exposes the Fault Lines Built Into the Israel-Lebanon Framework
An Israeli reservist was severely wounded on July 2 when a Hezbollah gunman opened fire on troops in Bint Jbeil,…
