Coalition strikes Houthi targets as Red Sea blockade threatens 12% trade

The Saudi-led coalition struck Houthi military targets in Yemen's Hodeidah province early Friday, the first direct retaliation against a rebel blockade that threatens to cut off 12% of global trade flowing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

"The Houthi blockade on Saudi shipping through Bab el-Mandeb, combined with Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, creates a supply chain crisis unseen in modern history," said Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis, commander of EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, the European-led maritime security task force in the Red Sea.

The coalition's strikes targeted military assets linked to Houthi maritime threats, according to a statement from Major General Turki Al-Maliki, the coalition's spokesman. The operation did not target Hodeidah port or airport, which remain operational. The Houthis announced their embargo on Saudi shipping July 20, framing it as retaliation for a Saudi strike on Sanaa's international airport. Since then, the rebels have struck at least two Saudi oil tankers — the Encelia and the Layla — in the Red Sea, setting both ablaze.

The dual blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world's oil and gas transited before the war — has already pushed Brent crude above $100 a barrel for the first time since May. Saudi Arabia had diverted millions of barrels of daily exports to its Yanbu port on the Red Sea via overland pipeline to bypass Iran's closure of Hormuz. The Houthi threat now puts that alternative route at risk, with Lloyd's List Intelligence warning of a "double whammy" on oil shipments.

Oil at $100 as Two Chokepoints Close Simultaneously

The simultaneous closure of the Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz represents a scenario that maritime analysts had long warned about but never expected to materialize. The Bab el-Mandeb alone handles about 12% of global trade and 30% of container traffic, while the Strait of Hormuz carried roughly 21% of the world's oil and gas before Iran's blockade. With both chokepoints effectively shut to Saudi-linked shipping, Brent crude surged more than 6% to about $100 a barrel, the highest level since the preliminary US-Iran peace agreement collapsed last month.

Saudi Arabia had been routing roughly 4.5 million barrels of oil per day through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to circumvent Iran's blockade of the Persian Gulf. The Houthi embargo now threatens that workaround. "The full closure of the BAM would cut global oil supply by 7% as it would leave most Saudi oil exports unable to leave the region," Reuters reported Monday. Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies, according to industry sources.

US-Iran War Widens as Casualties Mount

The Houthi escalation comes as the broader US-Iran conflict enters its 13th consecutive night of American airstrikes on Iranian targets. US Central Command said the latest barrage targeted "military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks" to degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has responded by firing at US bases in neighboring Gulf countries. Kuwait and Bahrain both reported intercepting Iranian missiles and drones Monday. The Iranian health ministry said 59 people have been killed and 666 wounded since the resumption of US strikes June 27. On the US side, two soldiers were killed in action July 17-18 at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, and the Pentagon has acknowledged more than 100 service members injured since July 7.

President Donald Trump has threatened "major military punishment" against Iran if Houthi attacks continue, while also leaving the door open to a diplomatic resolution. "We are talking to them. I think they're being serious," Trump told reporters Friday. "There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are... Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal." No new peace talks have been scheduled.

The last time the Houthis conducted a sustained campaign against Red Sea shipping — from November 2023 through September 2025 — it forced vessels to avoid the Suez Canal for the longer route around Africa, boosting shipping costs by nearly $200 billion. With US forces already stretched across the Persian Gulf, a renewed Houthi campaign could pull resources away from the primary theater against Iran, raising questions about the Pentagon's capacity to sustain operations on two fronts simultaneously.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.