SANAA: A Houthi spokesman has said that they were not blocking traffic through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, after they had declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia.

“There is no closure of Bab al-Mandab as some are suggesting,” said Mohammed Abdusalam, who is also a top Houthi negotiator, adding that their position was “limited to a maritime blockade that only affects the Saudi side”.

The group had attacked a Saudi ship a few days back in the nearby Red Sea after announcing the blockade, following the attack on Sanaa International Airport. In a radio message to ships on Monday, the rebels warned they would target ships “belonging to (the) Saudi enemy” that do not comply with their blockade.

According to data analysed by AFP, nine ships made a U-turn after the rebels announced their naval blockade, though some have resumed course. Two Chinese supertankers carrying a combined 4m barrels of Saudi Arabian oil exited the Red Sea via the Bab al-Mandeb strait on Thursday, shipping data showed, while a Danish-flagged oil products tanker, Torm Innovation, sailed via the Suez Canal with a cargo of about 500,000 barrels, with Japan as its destination, according to shipping data and trade sources.

Chinese supertankers among vessels crossing key strait

Critical fuel shipments to buyers in Asia through Suez are estimated to add another 30 days of journey time if voyages are unable to continue via the Bab al-Mandeb gateway.

Guterres ‘deeply alarmed’

Meanwhile, the United Nations chief is “deeply alarmed” after the Houthi struck oil tankers in the Red Sea, his spokesman said on Friday.

“The attack on commercial vessels, claimed by the Houthis, risks further heightening regional tensions and widening the current cycle of escalation,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said in a statement.

“Further hostilities in Yemen will undermine prospects for peace, and cause serious economic, humanitarian and environmental consequences across and beyond the region.”

In a late-night statement, Saudi-led coalition claimed to have targeted Houthi military sites in Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate, according to Al Arabiya TV. Earlier, the Houthi media said a woman was injured in Saudi strikes on Yemen’s Kamaran island.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2026