Middle East — 2026-07-20

Houthis Declare Maritime Blockade of Saudi Arabia, Threatening Bab al-Mandab Strait Closure and Global Oil Flows

BLUFSustained closure of Bab al-Mandeb within 30 days is very unlikely given depleted Houthi strike inventories, though intermittent attacks could still reroute commercial traffic and compound existing oil supply disruptions.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree declared an immediate maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday, calling it an "eye for an eye" response to what the group called a nearly 12-year Saudi blockade of Yemen 123. Houthi media official Nasruddin Amer said the group would close the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a Red Sea chokepoint carrying roughly 12 percent of world trade and about 7 percent of global oil output 124. The declaration follows Houthi missile strikes on Saudi Arabia's Abha airport last week, launched after the group blamed Riyadh for a strike on Sanaa airport that Yemen's internationally recognized government also claimed responsibility for 13. NBC News reported a senior Iranian official said Tehran had pressed the Houthis to shut the strait if US attacks on Iranian infrastructure continued 4. Saudi Arabia, which has relied on the strait to export crude via its East-West pipeline to Yanbu since the Strait of Hormuz closure, had not responded to the announcement as of Monday 245.

Analysis
A sustained closure of Bab al-Mandeb within 30 days is very unlikely. The Houthis lack the naval assets to physically interdict traffic at the scale their Gaza-era campaign required, when over a hundred attacks were needed to meaningfully slow shipping and members now describe drone and missile stocks as depleted. Moderate confidence rests on converging reporting of materiel shortages set against the absence of any observed mobilization of mines or attack vessels toward the strait. Enforcement is more plausible as intermittent strikes pushing insurers and shippers toward Cape of Good Hope routing than as an actual blockade, adding pressure atop a Hormuz-driven cut already near 10 percent of global oil supply.
6 sources
  1. Yemen Houthis declare naval blockade of Saudi Arabia: What to know - Al Jazeera
  2. Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis announce a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia - PBS News
  3. Houthis declare naval blockade on Saudi Arabia - Reuters (via The Jerusalem Post)
  4. Yemen's Houthis declare naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, widening threat to global oil supplies - NBC News
  5. Houthis Declare Naval Blockade on Saudi Arabia as Red Sea Crisis Deepens - OilPrice.com
  6. Yemen's Houthis to Impose Maritime Blockade on Saudi Arabia - Bloomberg

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