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A source within the Iran-aligned Ansar Allah, widely known as the Houthi movement, outlined to Newsweek the motivation behind the group’s latest intervention into a growing Middle East war, as well as a warning of further action against neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The threat follows Ansar Allah’s announcement on Monday of a “naval blockade” on Saudi shipping through the Bab el-Mandel Strait that links the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. The group said the move was taken in response to Saudi restrictions on shipping and travel to Ansar Allah-controlled territory across Yemen, a rationale reiterated to Newsweek on Tuesday.
“Our operations are to impose a blockade on the Saudi enemy in response to their blockade of Yemen for years, and their creation of terrible suffering for our people,” the Ansar Allah source said. “It is a blockade in response to the blockade on our country and our people.”
Should Riyadh retaliate, the Ansar Allah source warned of even harsher measures while clarifying that the group’s strategy was specifically targeting Saudi ships and policy, rather than tied directly to the broader regional unrest sparked by the U.S.-Israeli war launched against Iran in February.
“Our naval operations currently target Saudi Arabia only, and any escalation by them will be met with similar escalation and devastating strikes,” the Ansar Allah source said. “Our position is just: to lift the blockade on our country and our people, restore our wealth and end all Saudi interference in our country.”
Why Threat From Yemen Is Real
Ansar Allah previously demonstrated the potent tool of weaponizing international waterways prior to Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz oil and gas chokepoint, adopted in response to the U.S.-Israeli war.
While Tehran’s move has wrought havoc on global energy markets, Ansar Allah’s initial campaign targeting commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea in response to Israel’s war against Hamas following the Palestinian group’s October 2023 attack had seismic effects on international shipping.
The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and Ansar Allah’s threats forced roughly two-thirds of container ships to instead take the far longer and costlier route of navigating around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Ansar Allah also targeted Israel and U.S. warships directly with missiles and drones.
Upon returning to office early last year, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a brief but explosive weeks-long campaign of intensive strikes against Ansar Allah, resulting in a May 2025 ceasefire announced by the White House. Yet the group only truly halted its attacks upon the signing of a U.S.-backed Israel-Hamas ceasefire last October.
Since regional conflict resumed with the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, Ansar Allah has launched several new rounds of strikes against Israel and threatened further intervention if its interests were directly targeted.
The first sign of major conflict involving Saudi Arabia came last week as Ansar Allah accused Riyadh of targeting a runway at Sanaa International Airport just as a delegation of the group’s leadership was returning from the funeral of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, drawing the first direct strikes from Yemen against Saudi Arabia in years.
With the U.S. once again striking Iran and Iran conducting strikes against U.S. military bases and other strategic sites in regional countries, the interruption of maritime traffic across a second vital strait would almost certainly exacerbate costs to the global economy, to be felt by companies and consumers around the world.
Saudi Arabia Vows ‘All Necessary Measures’
The latest moves by Ansar Allah have drawn “condemnation in the strongest terms” from the Saudi Foreign Ministry. It said in a statement issued on Monday that Riyadh had supported rather than sabotaged efforts to develop Yemen’s infrastructure, address needs and alleviate suffering, facilitating the transit “during the first half of 2026 more than 300 ships carrying various foodstuffs, goods, fuel and construction materials” to Ansar Allah-controlled ports in northern Yemen.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia accused “the Houthi terrorist militia” of impeding Yemeni citizens’ travel, targeting infrastructure and committing human rights abuses in a bid “to export the economic problems it faces and popular rejection due to its crimes and violations by fabricating false accusations and directing them against the Kingdom.”
Saudi Arabia continues to support Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which was ousted by Ansar Allah from the capital Sanaa in 2015, drawing direct intervention from a Riyadh-led coalition. The two sides have largely been subject to a ceasefire since April 2022, though the nation remains in the throes of humanitarian crisis and unrest, including recent clashes between factions backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Should Ansar Allah resume or escalate its previous campaign against Red Sea shipping, Saudi Arabia would effectively find itself between blockades on both coasts. This would put additional pressure on the Kingdom at a time when it had sought to transfer exports to the Red Sea hub of Yanbu to avoid Iranian strikes.
Following Ansar Allah’s latest threats, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the country remained committed to finding a peaceful settlement in Yemen but also “affirms that the Kingdom will take all necessary measures to protect its ships in accordance with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982.”
Newsweek has reached out to the Saudi Embassy to the United States for additional comment.
More Problems for Trump
Trump, meanwhile, already finds himself under pressure as the effective collapse of a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding reached last month has led to a renewed spike in gas prices, greater strain on Pentagon munitions stockpiles and deepening domestic frustration with the war effort.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) declined Newsweek’s request for comment.
Ansar Allah, which the Trump administration has designated a terrorist organization in a similar vein as other Iran-led Axis of Resistance factions involved in the conflict like Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi factions such as Kataib Hezbollah, has long expressed a willingness to enter into a direct, full-scale confrontation with the U.S. if necessary.
The source within the group who spoke with Newsweek argued that any escalation would enjoy substantial domestic support as well, referencing scenes of celebration during a mass rally organized in support of the group on Monday. The source also noted the U.S. role in supporting Saudi Arabia.
“Our people have endured much Saudi injustice, supported by America, and have taken to the streets in the millions in an unprecedented manner in the history of Yemen to demand striking Saudi Arabia and lifting the blockade on Yemen,” the Ansar Allah source said.
“After we announced the blockade on Saudi Arabia with the aim of lifting the blockade on Yemen, the people came out at night in various Yemeni cities in a massive and spontaneous manner, where they celebrated and set off fireworks, and their celebrations continued in the streets throughout the night,” the source added.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Frances Mao and Dave Siminoff.
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