strikeJul 21, 2026

Saudi condemns Houthi blockade: How will the rest of the world be impacted?

Summary

Saudi condemns Houthi blockade: How will the rest of the world be impacted? Saudi Arabia has condemned the Houthi naval blockade that could impact oil flow to importers of Saudi oil. Saudi Arabia on Monday condemned allegations by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis that Riyadh was imposing a siege on the Yemeni people, after the group announced it would impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia. Amid the disruption in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israel war on Iran, Saudi Arabia was attempting to facilitate oil flow through alternative routes through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Now that route is under threat from the Houthis. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its ships. The Houthis have a track record of disrupting shipping traffic in the Red Sea. Here is a closer look at the blockade and what impact it might have beyond Saudi Arabia. What’s the latest on the blockade? The Houthis said on Monday that they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front against the US in its war with Iran and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf. In their statement, the Houthis said the declaration of the maritime embargo was “based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye'” and affirmed “the right of our great people to respond to the blockade with a blockade” and to “all escalation with escalation”. The Houthis also expressed “complete readiness for all options” and warned that “any foolish” Saudi act would be met with a “comprehensive and decisive” response. “We call upon the people of our great nation to continue the general mobilisation and general call to arms, and to be fully prepared for all scenarios and developments and to support the fronts with fighters,” the group said. It was not immediately clear how the Houthis would implement the maritime blockade or whether it could signal a return to attacks on international shipping off the Yemeni coast. The Houthis disrupted global commerce when they began attacking ships around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait following the launch of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023. The attacks ended with the announcement of a “ceasefire” in Gaza in October 2025. The Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, including for oil exports worldwide. Between Yemen to the northeast and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa to the southwest, the strait is just 29km (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting traffic to two channels for inbound and outbound vessels using the Suez Canal. In 2024, about 4.1 billion barrels of crude oil and refined petroleum products passed through the strait – about five percent of the global total. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed since Israel and the United States launched their war on Iran in late February, shutting down Bab al-Mandeb as well could block 25 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply. What is the context? The Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, accused Saudi leaders of imposing “an unjust and oppressive siege” for nearly 12 years, “plundering our resources and imposing a comprehensive blockade on our ports and airports by land, sea, and air”. Yemen has been mired in civil war for more than a decade since the Houthis seized the capital, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government. The conflict has since evolved into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, leaving the country divided between a Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government in Aden and a Houthi administration in Sanaa. Cargo ships and other vessels have regularly arrived at the port of Houthi-controlled Hodeidah, including in recent weeks, delivering food, fuel and other goods, according to shipping data. What’s the latest on the Saudi-Houthi spat? The announcement came days after the Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for attacking Sanaa airport, despite Yemen’s internationally recognised government claiming responsibility, saying it was to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital. In response, the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport, which the Saudi-led coalition said it successfully intercepted. That followed fighting between Houthi and government forces in Hodeidah, threatening four years of precarious calm since the signing of a temporary truce. “The Houthis and the Saudis, unfortunately, have not been able to make their ceasefire hold. And it’s gone south pretty quickly. And obviously led to this, this blockade being announced,” Michael Stephens, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, told Al Jazeera. “But of course, it has to be seen within the context of everything that’s going on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, and the war that has now restarted in the Gulf between Iran and the US.” How will this impact Saudi Arabia? The announcement is likely to further hamper Saudi Arabia’s crucial oil exports. The East-West Pipeline, also known as the Petroline, is operated by Saudi oil giant Aramco. Aramco is one of the world’s largest companies, with a market capitalisation exceeding $1.7 trillion and annual revenues of $480bn. The oil giant controls 12 percent of global oil production with a capacity of more than 12 million barrels per day (bpd). The 1,200km (745-mile) pipeline runs from the Abqaiq oil processing centre close to the Gulf in Saudi Arabia to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea on the other side of the country. From there, oil tankers ship the oil through Bab al-Mandeb to major Asian markets and elsewhere. Ship tracking data from Kpler and Signal Ocean showed that shipments from Yanbu averaged four million barrels per day in recent weeks, up from around 973,000 bpd a year earlier, according to Reuters. Total petroleum volumes transiting Bab al-Mandeb were 7.4 million bpd in June, or about 7 percent of global oil output, according to Kpler data. That is compared to 4.2 million bpd last year. How will the rest of the world be impacted? In 2024, Saudi Arabia exported $187bn of crude petroleum, making crude petroleum the country’s biggest export, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). In that year, China imported 25.6 percent of this crude petroleum, while South Korea imported 15.8 percent, Japan imported 15.4 percent, and India imported 10.5 percent. Since China and India are major buyers of Saudi crude, their refiners rely on steady Saudi volumes — all of which come through the Bab al-Mandeb. Disruptions mean higher import costs, greater reliance on spot cargoes, and potential pressure on domestic fuel prices and industry. India has also emerged as a key Asian supplier of refined petroleum products to Europe, so any sustained disruption to Saudi flows or Gulf shipping would likely push up the price of oil products exported to European markets. Stephens said the blockade would be “hugely harmful” to the oil economy. “Essentially, what you’re doing is you’re shutting off the vast majority of oil supply” from one of the world’s largest suppliers of crude in the world, he said. “And that’s going to have very deleterious effects on the oil market.” “If you’re [US President] Donald Trump and you want to see oil down at $70 a barrel, that is not going to happen,” Stephens added. Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, with Brent crude futures at $89.70 a barrel by 09:50 GMT. Before the US-Israel war on Iran, Brent crude futures averaged around $70 per barrel. Following the outbreak of the conflict, prices peaked at $126 per barrel. “It is going to cause inflationary pressure in Western economies, and actually in Asian economies as well,” Stephens said. “It’s going to cause more trouble in terms of depleting oil reserves in economies that have already been struggling because of this now five-, six‑month blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.”

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Al Jazeera StaffBy Al Jazeera Staff
Saudi condemns Houthi blockade: How will the rest of the world be impacted? Saudi Arabia has condemned the Houthi naval blockade that could impact oil flow to importers of Saudi oil. Saudi Arabia on Monday condemned allegations by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis that Riyadh was impo…

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Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranProxy

UK ‘ready to defend itself’ after Iranian threat over US bases

○ 1 source

The government has said the UK is “ready to defend itself” after Iran’s military warned that any bases being used by the US were “legitimate targets”. The UK has allowed the US to launch “defensive” operations from British bases hosting American planes since the start of its war on Iran but has refused to help in offensive operations.

That policy has not been altered by the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, who was notified last week that a decision had been made to extend the agreement with the US. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Thursday that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces”.

In a statement published on the IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency, the group said American bombing missions had been launched from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire two days earlier. The statement came after the US carried out a 12th consecutive night of strikes against targets in Iran.

The Ministry of Defence has not commented on whether Fairford was used by the US for operations against Iran this week. The IRGC also accused the “British monarchy regime” of causing being the “primary cause of hardships in our region with a black record of partitioning Islamic nations, widespread massacres, imposing despotic regimes, and organising the occupation of Palestine”.

It warned the government “not to weigh down its record any further”. A spokesperson for the British government said: “Our armed forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it’s on our soil or from abroad. The UK stands ready 24/7 to defend itself.

“This includes through operating a layered approach to air and missile defence, provided by Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force assets equipped with a range of advanced capabilities, working closely with our Nato allies. “We are committed to defending our people, our interests and our allies, acting in accordance with international law and not getting drawn into the wider conflict.

” On 1 March a drone struck the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, hitting a hangar, and prompting a partial evacuation of the facility. On 19 March, Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the UK’s Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands. One reportedly failed mid-flight, while the other was shot down by a US airship.

Iran has launched strikes against countries in the Gulf that house US military bases, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, killing American service personnel in some of the attacks. Donald Trump said Iran would “pay a big price” for killing US troops.

On Thursday afternoon, the US president said he was considering ordering a “massive attack” on Iran. “I am close to making a decision,” he told Axios. “We’re all set for it.” He said he believed Iran’s leaders “want to negotiate”, but aren’t yet ready to make a deal.

In another sign of the conflict potentially escalating, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday, as oil topped $100 a barrel.

Hayden Vernon

Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIranProxyRussia

Oil Prices Soar as US-Iran Conflict Expands to Red Sea

○ 1 source

September WTI crude oil (CLU26) on Thursday closed up +5.36 (+6.17%), and September RBOB gasoline (RBU26) closed up +0.0793 (+2.44%). WTI crude oil prices (CLU26) rallied more than +6% on Thursday after the Iran-backed Houthis launched a missile and drone attack on two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, expanding the oil disruptions beyond the Strait of Hormuz and threatening oil shipments in the Red Sea.

Sep Brent crude oil prices (CBU26) on Thursday rallied above $100 per barrel for the first time since May. President Trump said in an interview with Axios on Thursday that he is considering a “massive attack” that would be “bigger than ever before” and is “close to making a decision on it.

”Don’t Miss a Day: From crude oil to coffee, sign up free for Barchart’s best-in-class commodity analysis. The Houthis have vowed to blockade shipping linked to Saudi Arabia and warned shipowners against calling at the nation's ports. The move threatens Saudi oil exports from Yanbu, a Red Sea hub that the Saudi's are using to ship crude since the war brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a near halt.

Meanwhile, the US and Iran exchanged attacks for the 12th straight day, and the US maintained its blockade of Iranian oil shipments in the Persian Gulf. Global crude oil supplies are tightening due to reduced flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The International Maritime Organization warned last Wednesday that it is too dangerous to cross the Strait of Hormuz at the moment, and visible transit through the strait has fallen sharply as Iran continues targeting tankers attempting to transit it.

Crude prices also have support as Ukraine intensifies drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. Russian crude production fell to 8.928 million bpd in June, the lowest in 2.5 years, according to monthly OPEC data. According to EA Analytics, Russian crude-processing rates will average 3.

51 million bpd in July, the lowest in 24 years, amid damage to Russian energy infrastructure caused by drone and missile attacks from Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, Ukrainian forces have attacked Russian fuel-producing facilities more than 50 times this year, hitting at least 24 of Russia’s 34 largest refineries.

As of the end of June, around 90% of Russian regions have imposed some form of fuel rationing or reported supply issues, as refining capacity has plunged following damage to facilities. The strikes have deepened a nationwide gasoline shortage, with several major refineries shut down and the government banning almost all gasoline, jet fuel and diesel exports.

Russia is the world’s number two diesel exporter, after the US, according to Vortexa. Stronger Russian crude exports are also adding to global oil supplies, which is bearish for prices. Data compiled by Bloomberg show the four-week average of Russian crude exports rose to 4.

13 million bpd through June 28, the highest since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Russia may be boosting its crude exports as the country’s refining capacity has plunged due to damage at its refining facilities from Ukraine drone and missile attacks.

The outlook for higher US crude output is negative for oil prices. The Department of Energy (DOE) on July 7 raised its US 2026 crude production estimate to 13.78 million bpd from a June estimate of 13.72 million bpd. As a bearish factor for crude, OPEC delegates said on May 14 that the cartel aims to continue a series of oil quota increases over the next few months, completing the return of halted oil production by the end of September.

The group already formally agreed to restore about two-thirds of the 1.65 million bpd supply cutback it made back in 2023 and said it plans to raise output targets further and to revive the final portion in three more monthly stages. On July 5, OPEC+ said it will boost its crude output by 188,000 bpd in August, though that increase might prove difficult due to revived US-Iran military attacks in the region.

OPEC’s June crude production rose by +2.34 million bpd to 18.75 million bpd. Vortexa reported on Monday that crude oil stored on tankers that have been stationary for at least 7 days rose +31% w/w to 90.03 million bbl in the week ended July 17. Wednesday’s weekly EIA report was mostly negative for crude oil and products.

EIA crude inventories unexpectedly rose +2.01 million bbl versus expectations of a -1.95 million bbl decline. Also, EIA gasoline supplies rose by +765,000 bbl versus expectations of a -1.9 million bbl decline. In addition, EIA distillate stockpiles rose by +1.

4 million bbl, a larger build than expectations of +825,000 bbl. On the positive side, crude supplies at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI futures, fell -624,000 bbl. Wednesday’s EIA report showed that (1) US crude oil inventories as of July 17 were -5.

3% below the seasonal 5-year average, (2) gasoline inventories were -7.1% below the seasonal 5-year average, and (3) distillate inventories were -9.6% below the 5-year seasonal average. US crude oil production in the week ending July 17 fell -0.5% w/w to 13.

798 million bpd, just below the record high of 13.862 million bpd posted in the week of November 7. Baker Hughes reported last Friday that the number of active US oil rigs in the week ended July 17 rose by +7 to a 13-month high of 452 rigs, up from the 4.

25-year low of 406 rigs posted in December 2025. However, the number of US oil rigs remains sharply below the 5.5-year high of 627 reported in December 2022. On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.

All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Barchart

Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIran

IDF to deal 'crushing blow' to Iran, if it attacks Israel — Ynet

○ 1 source

TEL AVIV, July 23. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will deal "a crushing blow" to Iran, if it attacks the Jewish state, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned, according to the Ynet portal. "We are ready for any development of events. If Iran attacks Israel, we will deal a crushing blow," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he was considering carrying out a massive attack on Iran, and the strikes would be harder than before. According to the American leader, Israel will "join the attack in two minutes" if requested by the United States.

However, he added that Washington "does not need anyone" to launch a new military operation. Trump did not specify a deadline for making a decision. The United States and Israel started a war with Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

However, on the night of July 8, the United States resumed large-scale strikes against Iran, accusing it of violating the terms of the agreements regarding the Strait of Hormuz.

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Jul 23, 2026strikeUnverifiedUSIsraelIran

UK 'ready to defend itself' after Iran says bases are 'legitimate targets'

○ 1 source

The British government stated that it stands ready to defend itself following Iranian comments designating UK bases hosting US forces as legitimate targets in response to US military strikes on Iran. Iranian officials described the UK as an accomplice to US operations, while UK policy has allowed US use of bases such as RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia for what the UK has termed defensive purposes.

Permissions for this arrangement, first granted in March, were extended under the current UK government.

Location: Iran

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