Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis announce maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia

SANAA - Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on July 20 announced a maritime embargo of their foe Saudi Arabia, raising the stakes after the pair traded fire last week for the first time in years.

The rebels declared “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye,’ effective immediately upon the issuance of this statement,” military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.

He said the move was in response to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Houthi “ports and airports” and the targeting of Sanaa airport last week, adding that they would respond to “the blockade with a blockade”.

“Any foolish act committed by the reckless Saudi enemy through all escalation will be met with a comprehensive and decisive escalation,” Saree added.

Last week, hostilities flared in Yemen’s long-dormant conflict as Iran, through its Houthi ally, appeared to challenge Saudi Arabia’s hegemony over Yemeni skies.

The Houthis fired missiles at an airport in the southern Saudi Arabian city of Abha last Monday, after the Yemeni government said it hit Sanaa airport to block a flight from Iran with a Houthi delegation aboard it.

The Houthis have blamed the government’s backer Riyadh for the attack.

For more than a decade, aircraft entering Yemeni airspace have needed prior clearance from the Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen’s government and says it enforces the restriction at its request.

As part of the Gaza war, the Houthis previously attacked shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, which leads to Europe via the Suez Canal, forcing ships to take lengthy detours around Africa.

The Red Sea is also home to the Saudi port of Yanbu, through which Riyadh has been able to export millions of barrels of oil, bypassing Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf during its war with the United States. AFP