Yemen's Houthi movement says it attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, in what would be the first strikes since the Iran-backed group announced a "maritime embargo" against the kingdom. The claim came as the United States launched its twelfth straight night of strikes on Iran, broadening a confrontation that now spans the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf.
The Houthis named the tankers as the Encelia and the Layla, saying they targeted the ships with drones and missiles for allegedly violating the naval blockade. Saudi state media confirmed early on Thursday that the Encelia was struck "while sailing in the Red Sea," causing a fire on its bow; all crew were reported safe. The UK Maritime Trade Operation said an "unknown projectile" hit a Saudi tanker about 130km from Al Shuqaiq, causing a fire but no casualties.
The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, promised to keep up naval operations and enforce a "siege for a siege" equation. If confirmed, the attacks mark a dangerous expansion of the group's campaign from Israeli- and Western-linked shipping to Saudi vessels directly, raising the stakes for global energy flows through the Red Sea.
US Central Command said at 21:30 GMT it had launched strikes at President Trump's direction "to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners." The targets included maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage, coastal surveillance sites and air-defence assets. Iranian state media reported two people killed in US strikes near Iran's border with Iraq, and said Tehran had struck US assets in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain in response.
The interlocking threats — Houthi drones in the Red Sea, American bombs over Iran, and Iranian retaliation across three neighbouring states — have turned a string of chokepoints into a single live front. Insurers and shippers are already repricing transit risk, and any sustained closure of the Red Sea corridor would ripple through oil and container markets worldwide.
For global commerce the danger is cumulative. Each confirmed Houthi strike tightens insurance premiums on vessels transiting the Red Sea, and higher premiums eventually translate into dearer energy and goods for consumers far from the conflict. Ship operators are already weighing whether the Bab al-Mandab is worth the risk at all, and some are routing around the Cape of Good Hope despite the extra fuel and time. If that becomes the norm, the strategic prize — control of a chokepoint carrying a sixth of world trade — shifts decisively away from the states that depend on it most.
The coming nights will show whether Washington's strikes degraded Iran's capabilities or simply widened the front from the Gulf to the Red Sea.
