Saudi Arabia seeks international coalition against Houthis in Red Sea

Riyadh seeks partners to safeguard shipping in Red Sea as strikes on energy tankers expand, pushing oil prices higher.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to build an international coalition to protect shipping in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, people familiar with the deliberations have told the Reuters news agency.

The composition of the coalition has not yet been finalised and is being discussed with dozens of countries, the sources said.

Tensions in the Red Sea are rising, denting the global economic outlook already under stress due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

On July 20, the Houthis announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, accusing its leaders of imposing “an unjust and oppressive siege” on Yemen for nearly 12 years, “plundering our resources and imposing a comprehensive blockade”.

Since then, the Houthis said they have launched attacks on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia responded with air strikes on what it said were Houthi military facilities at Yemen’s Hodeidah port used to threaten commercial shipping.

The Saudi Center for International Communication did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The blockade has opened a new front against the United States and its allies in the wider US-Israel war on Iran, expanding attacks on tankers carrying energy and other supplies to waters beyond the Gulf and pushing oil prices higher.

“Gulf states have been trying to avoid this [expansion] throughout the US-Iran conflict. They do not believe this is their war to fight, and they have said repeatedly they don’t want to get dragged into it,” said Al Jazeera’s Victoria Gatenby.

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud received phone calls from his counterparts in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, during which the diplomats “stressed the importance of continuing efforts to de-escalate tensions”, according to his office.

They also condemned attacks by Iran and “its affiliated militias in Iraq and Yemen”, and emphasised continued coordination and stronger joint action through the Gulf Cooperation Council.

In Yemen, a minister of the internationally recognised government accused Houthi rebels of working under Iranian guidance to establish a system to impose fees for ships transiting the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani described “the move as a dangerous escalation aimed at transforming one of the world’s most strategic maritime corridors into a permanent source of funding for the militia’s military and terrorist activities”.