Houthis impose Saudi naval blockade, opening new front in US-Iran war

Written by: Nayera Abdallah, Eman Abouhassira and Timour Azhari

DUBAI/RIYADH, July 20 (Reuters) – Yemen’s pro-Iran Houthis said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. This move opens a new front against the United States in its war against Iran and expands the threat to global energy supplies and Gulf trade.

The announcement came despite signs that Tehran and Washington want to restart diplomacy to halt a cycle of escalating attacks that have all but destroyed the fragile interim agreement signed last month. Oil prices rose briefly after the Houthis’ announcement but fell back as traders hoped for a diplomatic breakthrough.

Iran has been pressuring the Houthis to close the Bab al-Mandeb gate to the Red Sea if the United States continues to attack Iranian energy infrastructure. Closing the strait entirely would reduce global oil supplies by 7% as it would prevent most Saudi oil exports from leaving the region. This disruption will compound the major disruption to global oil flows caused by the war in the Gulf, which has already reduced shipments by 10% of global supply.

The Houthis’ armed forces said in a statement that they had declared “a naval embargo with immediate effect against the guilty Saudi enemy, based on the ‘eye for an eye’ equation” in response to what they called the “unfair and oppressive siege” imposed by the Saudis on Yemen.

There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia.

Diplomatic pressure to restore ceasefire

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Tehran has received a 10-day ceasefire offer from mediators to salvage an interim agreement aimed at paving the way for a permanent agreement to end the war that began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said mediators had recently made overtures to Tehran, signaling that diplomatic contacts were continuing.

Neither the ministry nor the official who spoke to Reuters gave further details about possible ceasefire talks.

Separately, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, on his second visit to Islamabad in less than a week, asked Pakistan to continue its mediating role in Iran’s conflict with the United States, two Pakistani government sources said.

The diplomatic move came after another night of US attacks on Iranian cities and attacks by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard against US military assets in the region.

US President Donald Trump, who is under increasing political pressure at home due to rising gasoline prices, defended the recent attacks on Iran in memory of the three American soldiers who died in the recent Iranian attacks.

IRAN SAID TANKERS EXPLODED

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers exploded after trying to cross the strait via an “unsafe” route. On Sunday, the IRGC announced that two ships were involved in an “accident” in the same area. It is not yet known whether the two incidents are related.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the incident. The Revolutionary Guard’s statement did not provide any details about the ships or casualties.

Separately, an unknown projectile hit a ship off the coast of Oman overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, the UK’s Merchant Marine Operations agency said. It was stated that the ship was lost in the current but the crew was safe.

US Central Command said the ninth consecutive nighttime strikes against Iran were aimed at “humiliating” the country’s ability to attack commercial ships in the vital shipping lanes of the strait. He did not give further details.

Explosions were reported in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini in Iran. According to state news agency IRNA, one person was killed and many others were injured in the southwest of Tabriz.

The Revolutionary Guard said it targeted US aircraft at Jordan’s Aqaba airport with ballistic missiles, as well as military assets at Kuwait’s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base, and positions in Syria.

While sirens blared in Bahrain throughout Monday, the Kuwaiti army announced that it had once again intercepted Iranian drones.

THERE WAS AN ATTACK ON THE DESALTING FACILITY

Kuwait’s government said Sunday that a desalination plant was attacked for the second consecutive day, causing a fire, a direct attack on vital civilian infrastructure.

Desalination plants provide most of the drinking water in many Gulf countries and serve tens of millions of people in one of the world’s driest regions.

Iran, which on Saturday accused the United States of attacking one of its desalination plants, has repeatedly said it would target such facilities in Gulf countries in retaliation. ‌The US has not confirmed that it hit Iran’s desalination plant.

USA AND IRAN WILL NOT PREVENT RETURN TO DIPLOMACY

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed that the US will continue to target Iran as long as it attacks global commercial shipping.

“As long as Iran insists on controlling an international waterway, we will have to respond. The United States will always remain open to a diplomatic solution,” Rubio said.

When asked whether the door to negotiations with the United States was now closed, Iran’s Foreign Ministry signaled that Tehran did not rule out a return to diplomacy.

Ministry spokesman Esmaeil ‌Baghaei, who confirmed that Tehran had received “offers” from mediators, said he could not give details. “The main thing is that both the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and the ideas of some mediators have reached us.” he added.

The conflict has killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Eman Abouhassira in Dubai; Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov in London, Enas Alashray and Hatem Maher in Cairo, and Idrees Ali and Michael Martina in Washington; Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Ros Russell.)