SerpApi.Org
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed they’re imposing a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia “effective immediately” on Monday – though it’s unclear how they would pull it off.
The Houthis said that they plan to block the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a narrow waterway that connects oil-producing juggernaut Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea, which would widen the threat to global energy supplies.
The apparent move is in retaliation for what the rebels described as “an unjust and oppressive siege” imposed on Yemen by the Saudis.
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“[We are declaring] a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’, effective immediately…” the insurgents said in a statement.
The blockade would also follow through on a request made by the Iranian government, who asked the rebels to close the waterway if the US continued to attack Iran.
A closure of the strait would see the Saudis unable to export oil from the region and is expected to reduce the world’s oil supply by 7% if successful.
That reduction would be compounded with the already limited amounts of oil coming from the gulf, which has fallen by 10% since the start of the US war with Iran.
Instability in global energy prices as a result of the war has caused the cost of oil to surge, with the price of a barrel jumping to nearly $90 on Monday.
The Houthis’ threat comes as the US and Iran continue fighting after last month’s collapse of a memorandum of understanding that briefly paused the conflict.
Qatar has floated a 10-day cease-fire to de-escalate the renewed fighting, which began when Iran attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz for following a US-preferred route rather than one closer to Iran.
