{"id":2921,"date":"2026-07-23T13:33:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2921"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:33:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:33:38","slug":"yemens-houthis-attack-saudi-tankers-in-the-red-sea-threatening-to-widen-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2921","title":{"rendered":"Yemen\u2019s Houthis attack Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, threatening to widen Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By ELENA BECATOROS, FATMA KHALED and COLLIN BINKLEY<\/strong><\/p>\n

CAIRO (AP) \u2014 Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed\u00a0Houthi rebels\u00a0said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday, potentially opening a new front as the U.S. military conducted a 12th night of strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n

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The Houthis have threatened to shut down\u00a0another key trade route, with the world economy\u00a0already reeling\u00a0from Iran\u2019s closure of the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz. Iran and the U.S. have meanwhile stepped up their attacks as they vie for control of the strait, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and gas passed in peacetime,\u00a0setting off a scramble for alternative routes.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened \u201cmajor military punishment\u201d against the Houthis if their attacks on ships continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and\/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves,\u201d Trump wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

As the rhetoric escalated, so did the economic fallout. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked 4.3% Thursday to $98.16, its highest level since early June, before the two sides reached a preliminary peace agreement\u00a0that has since collapsed.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi of Iraq, which has close ties to both the U.S. and Iran, was in Tehran on Thursday to call for peace and dialogue, a spokesperson said. Al-Zaidi met with Trump earlier this month in Washington.<\/p>\n

An Arab diplomat said Gulf states are increasingly pessimistic about finding an off-ramp. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said regional countries, in addition to Pakistan and Turkey, continue to push for de-escalation.<\/p>\n

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Houthi attacks are a \u2018double whammy\u2019 on oil shipments<\/h4>\n

The Houthis\u2019 SABA news agency said the rebels had struck two tankers, the Encelia and the Layla, in the Red Sea, leading to fires on both. There were no reports of casualties.<\/p>\n

It was their first reported attack on a vessel since they announced a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this week in retaliation for the kingdom\u2019s blockade on Yemen and a\u00a0recent attack\u00a0on the international airport in Yemen\u2019s rebel-held capital, Sanaa.<\/p>\n

Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 12% of the world\u2019s trade, including a fourth of global container traffic, passes through there, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt\u2019s Suez Canal.<\/p>\n

The state-run Saudi Press Agency reported an attack set the Encelia ablaze overnight in the Red Sea. It did not mention the Layla.<\/p>\n

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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, UKMTO, said it received a report of a tanker being struck by \u201can unknown projectile\u201d 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Al Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia, in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

The Houthi attacks put at risk oil shipments from Saudi Arabia\u2019s Yanbu port on the Red Sea and present a \u201cdouble whammy\u201d on top of the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, said maritime data and analysis firm Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia has diverted millions of barrels a day of oil exports to Yanbu via an overland pipeline as the war has bottled up the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n

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The Houthi threats \u201craises questions on the viability of this route,\u201d Lloyd\u2019s said in slides accompanying an online webinar Thursday.<\/p>\n

The rebels say they are blockading Saudi Arabia, but during their announced blockade of Israel, at the height of the war in Gaza, they targeted many vessels with little or no connection to that conflict,\u00a0disrupting global trade.<\/p>\n