Saudi strikes on Houthi targets escalate Red Sea conflict

Saudi strikes hit Yemen’s Hodeidah province and Kamaran Island after Houthi forces claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, widening a confrontation that has already forced more ships to change course. One of the tanker incidents was said to have occurred about 130 kilometers off the Saudi coast.

The claimed tanker attacks came days after the Houthis announced a naval embargo on Saudi vessels. The Houthi-controlled Foreign Ministry warned that the Saudi strike would trigger further escalation in the Yemeni conflict, while Houthi-linked media said the Saudi bombardment also reached Kamaran Island. Saudi officials said the targets were military sites.

The exchange quickly drew in Washington. Donald Trump said the United States would hold Iran responsible for Houthi attacks after the tankers were targeted, raising the stakes for U.S. forces and for the maritime corridor that links the Red Sea to the Bab al-Mandab Strait. More ships changed course in the Red Sea after the Houthi threats, a sign of how quickly commercial traffic can be disrupted when the threat level rises.

The latest flare-up sits on top of a long pattern of reprisal. After U.S.-British strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen in January 2024, the Houthis said they would expand Red Sea targets to include U.S. ships. Saudi Arabia had already asked Washington to show restraint in December 2023 after Houthi attacks on shipping. In 2018, Saudi Arabia halted oil exports through the Red Sea lane after attacks on its vessels, and in 2019 strikes on Saudi oil facilities knocked out about half the kingdom’s supply.

The broader Yemen war began with the Saudi-led intervention in March 2015, and the Red Sea front now carries added weight because it touches shipping lanes, oil markets and U.S. interests at once. Repeated attacks on tankers, ports and oil facilities would mark the shift from contained retaliation to a sustained regional escalation.