Saudi Arabia strikes Hodeida after Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping
Iran war widens into maritime choke points, US says it disabled a vessel trying to breach its Iran port blockade
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Saudi Arabia struck the port city of Hodeida in Yemen in response to Iranian-backed Houthi rebel attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
theguardian.com
Saudi Arabia struck Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeida on Friday after attacks on Saudi shipping, opening a more direct Saudi-Houthi exchange as the wider Iran war squeezes maritime routes, according to the Guardian. Houthi media reported two people wounded and accused Riyadh of hitting civilian infrastructure; a Yemeni security source told Agence France-Presse that a naval base in Hodeida and a military camp on Kamaran island were among the targets.
The Saudi-led coalition said it hit Houthi sites and destroyed targets threatening Red Sea ships, framing the operation as a response to attacks on commercial vessels. The Houthis, an Iran-backed movement that controls large parts of Yemen, announced what they called a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and said they had struck Saudi ships this week; Saudi Arabia confirmed one attack in the Red Sea.
The timing matters because the Red Sea is no longer a side theatre. With Iran signalling a parallel blockade posture around the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia’s shipping routes face pressure at both ends. That forces commercial actors—insurers, shipowners, charterers—to price political decisions and militia capability into freight rates and schedules, regardless of whether any formal blockade is declared.
Washington’s posture adds another layer of uncertainty. Donald Trump said he had not decided on launching major strikes on Iran, while reports cited by the Guardian said he met senior advisers to discuss a large-scale operation. US embassies in the region warned Americans that options to leave could become limited, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards advised residents of neighbouring countries to avoid bases hosting US troops.
The US military also disclosed an enforcement action at sea: it said American forces disabled a merchant vessel, the M/T Lavine, in the Gulf of Oman after it attempted multiple times to breach what the US described as its blockade of Iran’s ports. The episode suggests that even without a declared war between states, navies are already acting as gatekeepers for trade flows.
Saudi Arabia said its military response was over. The Houthis said the latest strikes would not go unanswered.