Yemen’s Houthis must cease all actions that endanger international shipping and the lives of seafarers, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said, Reuters reports.

Recent threats by the rebel group to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia “pose a direct threat to regional stability and constitute a dangerous escalation”, Kallas says in a statement.

The Houthis claim they struck two Saudi oil tankers as part of a blockade on Saudi Arabia, threatening to create a second chokepoint on global oil supplies alongside the Strait of Hormuz.

Kallas deems such attacks “unacceptable”, adding that they inflame the already fragile situation in the region.

“Navigation must be unimpeded, in the Strait of Hormuz as well as in the Red Sea,” the EU’s top diplomat adds.

She further says that the EU’s ASPIDES naval operation remains committed to protecting freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and surrounding international waters.