Yemen's Houthis have declared a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia, because nothing says 'diplomacy' like blocking a strait. The Iran-backed group's military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, announced the embargo would begin immediately, framing it as a retaliatory measure for what he called Saudi Arabia's "unjust and oppressive siege" on Houthi-controlled ports and airports over the past 12 years. The deputy head of the Houthi media office, Nasruddin Amer, further clarified on X that they are "closing Bab al-Mandab to Saudi enemy ships" - the 32km-wide strait that serves as the southern gateway to the Red Sea and a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments. Saudi authorities have not yet commented, perhaps because they're busy rerouting their tankers.

This escalation comes a week after the most significant flare-up in the largely dormant conflict since an informal truce in 2022, with the Houthis launching missiles at Abha airport in response to Saudi-backed air strikes on Sanaa airport. The strikes, claimed by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, were intended to prevent an Iranian plane from landing without authorisation - because nothing says sovereignty like bombing an airport to stop a plane.

The Bab al-Mandab Strait is no stranger to drama. Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, the Houthis have been attacking merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, sinking four ships and killing nine crew members. Commercial traffic hit a record low as shipping companies rerouted around southern Africa. Although attacks paused after the Gaza ceasefire last October, traffic levels have yet to recover. In response to the Strait of Hormuz situation, Saudi Arabia has diverted over 70% of its crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, shipping about 4 million barrels per day recently - up from 973,000 bpd a year earlier. Total petroleum volumes transiting Bab al-Mandab reached 7.4 million bpd in June, about 7% of global output.

Mohammed Albasha of the Basha Report noted that it's unclear whether the Houthis will actually target vessels heading to Saudi Arabia. "Even if no ships are attacked, the announcement alone is likely to disrupt shipping and create uncertainty for Saudi ports," he said. So, the Houthis have achieved the first goal of modern warfare: causing chaos with just a press release. Yemen's civil war, which began in 2014 when the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa, has left over 150,000 dead and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with over 22 million people needing aid. But hey, at least they're keeping the strait interesting.