The United States has condemned Yemen’s Houthi rebels for threatening commercial shipping in the Red Sea after the group announced a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed Iran for the Houthi rebel group’s naval blockade against Saudi Arabia but hoped it could be de-escalated.
On the sidelines of a regional summit in the Philippines, Mr Rubio said anything that restricts shipping through the Red Sea would be problematic for the same reasons that the Strait of Hormuz is problematic. He said the US is closely monitoring the situation. The Houthis opened a new front against Saudi Arabia by declaring a naval blockade of the kingdom, threatening the flow of global oil supplies and trade. Houthi officials said, the group warned international shipping companies on Monday to avoid transiting through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes in peacetime, has been fully or partially closed since the war in Iran started on Feb 28 with US and Israeli attacks.
