Houthis Threaten to Expand Red Sea Attacks, and Claim Strike on Saudi Tanker

The Houthis, an Iranian-backed militia in Yemen, said Wednesday that they had struck a Saudi oil tanker in the northern Red Sea, and they threatened to intensify attacks there in an effort to close “all access routes” to Saudi oil shipments.

The Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said the group had fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi tanker called Wafa near the Saudi port city of Yanbu, though he did not say when the attack had occurred. The Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Houthis’ claim.

The Houthis declared a blockade of Saudi shipping last month. The territory they control in Yemen is near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow waterway that leads into the southern end of the Red Sea.

The group claimed on Wednesday to have attacked eight ships linked to Saudi Arabia since the blockade. The strikes have forced some shipping companies to reroute to the northern part of the Red Sea. The group’s latest threat suggested that it would pursue Saudi tankers there also, in waters heading toward the Suez Cblock, another crucial artery for global trade. The global oil price, after two days of declines, jumped 1 percent on Wednesday, to about $80 a barrel.

The Houthis and Saudi Arabia are longtime adversaries. In 2015, Saudi Arabia blockembled a military coalition that failed to oust the Houthis from power after the group seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, setting off a devastating civil war.

That conflict settled into a fragile stalemate, but last month tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia escalated rapidly, with an exchange of strikes.

The Red Sea has taken on greater importance in recent months after fighting between the United States and Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for oil and gas shipping in the Persian Gulf. That disruption led Saudi Arabia to reroute much of its oil through pipelines to port cities on the Red Sea, where the Houthis are now concentrating their attacks.

The Saudi-led coalition has for the most part not publicly confirmed or denied specific Houthi claims of attacks. Since the blockade was announced, the coalition has struck the Houthi-controlled port city of Hudaydah, saying it targeted “legitimate military targets” used to threaten commercial vessels.

That has done little to avert the Houthis’ attacks. On Tuesday, the group claimed to have struck an airport in Najran in southwestern Saudi Arabia, though the Saudi authorities did not comment and it remained unclear whether such an attack had taken place.

Later Tuesday, an Indian cargo ship sank in the Red Sea after being struck by a projectile, according to the Indian government. All 14 crew members were rescued. The Houthis did not claim the attack, though the internationally recognized government of Yemen blamed the Houthis.

The attacks and threats came as Washington and Tehran kept open the prospect of renewed diplomacy after a cease-fire that had effectively collapsed in recent weeks. President Trump told Fox News that the two sides had held “very good discussions,” though Iranian officials continued to play down expectations of an imminent breakthrough.