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Saudi Arabia has not commented on the claim by the Houthis, who are backed by Iran and have vowed to close “all access routes” to Saudi oil shipments.
Listen · 4:00 min Share full article 27 By Euan Ward and Ismaeel Naar
Euan Ward reported from Beirut, Lebanon, and Ismaeel Naar from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Houthis, an Iranian-backed militia in Yemen, said Wednesday that they had struck a Saudi oil tanker in the northern Red Sea, and they threatened to intensify attacks there in an effort to close “all access routes” to Saudi oil shipments.
The Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said the group had fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi tanker called Wafa near the Saudi port city of Yanbu, though he did not say when the attack had occurred. The Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Houthis’ claim.
The Houthis declared a blockade of Saudi shipping last month. The territory they control in Yemen is near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow waterway that leads into the southern end of the Red Sea.
The group claimed on Wednesday to have attacked eight ships linked to Saudi Arabia since the blockade. The strikes have forced some shipping companies to reroute to the northern part of the Red Sea. The group’s latest threat suggested that it would pursue Saudi tankers there also, in waters heading toward the Suez Canal, another crucial artery for global trade. The global oil price, after two days of declines, jumped 1 percent on Wednesday, to about $80 a barrel.
The Houthis and Saudi Arabia are longtime adversaries. In 2015, Saudi Arabia assembled a military coalition that failed to oust the Houthis from power after the group seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, setting off a devastating civil war.
That conflict settled into a fragile stalemate, but last month tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia escalated rapidly , with an exchange of strikes.
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