In a major escalation in the Middle East, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia after the two sides traded fire
last week for the first time in years. The rebels "declare 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," Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said. He said that the blockade on Yemen's ports and the attack on its airport in Sanaa will be met with a response. "Our people cannot endure this unjust siege and aggression without taking a stand… They have the full right to confront this unjust siege and aggression by all available means," said Saree, as quoted by Al Jazeera. The Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control earlier this month. The strikes broke the four-year truce between the kingdom and the Iran-aligned group. The two sides had agreed to a truce in March 2022. Spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group targeted the international airport in Saudi Arabia's Abha, the capital of a mountainous southern region bordering Yemen where many Saudis escape the summer heat. Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, intervened the following year, in 2015, to try to restore the government to power. Still, the 2022 truce between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has largely held, despite regional escalation tied to the Israel-Gaza war, where the Houthis fired on numerous Red Sea ships, as well as the Iran war. With the Houthis officially announcing a blockade on Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea shipping route could be threatened.
