Houthi Blockade on Saudi Shipping Escalates Regional Crisis: On July 20, Yemen’s Houthis announced a maritime embargo on Saudi vessels in response to the Saudi blockade of Houthi areas, threatening to target any ships carrying Saudi cargo within their operational range and effectively disrupting Bab el-Mandeb Strait traffic.

Iran’s Strait of Hormuz Closure Compounds Global Energy Shock: Iran formally closed the Strait of Hormuz, with shipping traffic dropping dramatically (from ~88 to 10 ships per day), while Trump threatened to bomb Iranian bridges or power plants in response to any attacks on vessels, further inflaming the conflict.

Broader Strategic and Humanitarian Implications: The dual blockade risks major disruptions to global oil/gas supplies, sharply higher shipping costs, and severe impacts on food security and fertilizer trade, with Trump’s ongoing bombing campaign (12th night) and erratic rhetoric highlighting a dangerous escalation without clear strategic resolution.

The naval blockade has become conveniently modish, particularly when it comes to narrow straits of water where heavy international traffic and cargo pass through.  The Iranians were the first to realise an eventuality long suspected: that the Strait of Hormuz might be feasibly shut for lengthy periods of time with minimum use of force, periodically and selectively opened to balance the strategic books when needed.  It has been seen, no less, as a divine gift with ambrosial properties. 

The Iranian-backed Houthis of the Ansar Allah (Partisans of God) movement are now doing much the same thing with their July 20 announcement of a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia.  The measure is intended to counter the Saudi blockade of ports and airports in the Houthi-controlled area of north-western Yemen.  In the words of Yahya Sarea, a Houthi military spokesman, Saudi Arabia had imposed an “unjust and oppressive siege on our dear people for nearly 12 years, plundering our resources and imposing a comprehensive blockade on our ports and airports by land, sea and air”.  

In an email to shipping operators from the Houthi-operated Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, the threat was unmistakably clear: “Vessels are banned from loading or discharging........

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