Yemen’s Houthis claim attack on two Saudi oil tankers

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkHouthi military spokesman Yahya Saree [File: Osamah Abdulrahman/AP Photo]By Al Jazeera Staff and ReutersPublished On 22 Jul 202622 Jul 2026Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have claimed an attack on two Saudi oil tankers transiting through the Red Sea.“We targeted two Saudi oil tankers, named ENCELA and LAYLIA, for their violation of the blockade decision issued by the armed forces,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Rubio says US, China must ‘work through’ big differences at ASEAN meetinglist 2 of 3Why is Iran still able to conduct deadly attacks on US military sites?list 3 of 3US launches new strikes as Iran warns of regional turmoilend of listSaree added that the attacks were carried out, “using a number of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones”.Saudi Arabia has not commented on the claims, but the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received reports that a tanker has been struck.“The master of a tanker reports being struck by an unknown projectile which has caused a fire onboard that the crew are currently fighting,” UKMTO, which monitors shipping in the region, said.Yemen’s Houthi movement, which has fought the Yemeni government and a Saudi-led coalition that backs it for more than a decade, had imposed a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia on July 20. That followed some of the worst violence Yemen had seen for four years, after the Yemeni government bombed Houthi-controlled Sanaa Airport to stop an Iranian plane from landing.Saudi Arabia has rejected claims by the Houthis that Riyadh was imposing a siege on the Yemeni people, and the group’s critics point out that they have rejected a proposal from Jordan to resume flights between Amman and Sanaa.Amid the disruption in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israel war on Iran, Saudi Arabia has been attempting to facilitate oil flow through alternative routes through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. But that route is now under threat from the Houthis.The Houthis disrupted global commerce when they began attacking ships around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait following the launch of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. The attacks ended with the announcement of a “ceasefire” in Gaza in October 2025.The Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, including for oil exports worldwide.Between Yemen to the northeast and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa to the southwest, the strait is just 29km (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound vessels using the Suez Canal.In 2024, about 4.1 billion barrels of crude oil and refined petroleum products passed through the strait – about five percent of the global total.With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed since Israel and the United States launched their war on Iran in late February, shutting down Bab al-Mandeb as well could block 25 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply.