Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed drone strikes on Saudi oil infrastructure on 27 July, targeting sites it said linked eastern Saudi Arabia’s crude supplies to the Red Sea export hub of Yanbu, while Yemen’s internationally recognised government declared it was prepared for any escalation. The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, stated the operation was a response to Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace. Hours earlier, Yemen’s foreign minister-designate, Afrah al-Zouba, told journalists in Riyadh that her government was ready “for any escalations” amid renewed cross-border fire.

The attacks follow a 20 July Houthi declaration of a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, with warnings that Saudi-linked vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb strait would be targeted. Al-Zouba accused the Iran-backed group of seeking to replicate Iran’s strategy in the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to gain control of the Bab el-Mandeb, a critical passage into the Red Sea. She said the Houthis were “in harmony” with Iranian regional escalation. Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes on what it described as Houthi military facilities in the port of Hodeidah and has said it will protect commercial shipping.

The latest flare‑up is threatening a 2022 truce that had largely held since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015. Saudi officials, Western diplomats and Yemeni authorities now view a return to full-scale conflict as more likely than at any time since the truce, though neither side has yet launched a ground offensive. Al-Zouba confirmed that daily skirmishes were taking place along frontlines stretching from the Red Sea to the Saudi border. The Bab el‑Mandeb chokepoint handles a significant share of global oil flows: an average of 9.3 million barrels per day passed through in 2023, but that volume had more than halved by 2025 as a result of Houthi attacks.

Saudi Arabia had re‑routed crude exports via its east‑west pipeline to Yanbu to bypass disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz following the outbreak of the US‑ and Israeli‑led war on Iran in February. By striking the supply routes to Yanbu, the Houthis are now extending the threat to that second waterway. The group has described its blockade as retaliation for what it calls a 12‑year Saudi‑led blockade of Yemen’s ports and for a 13 July attack on Sanaa airport. “This conflict now needs to come to an end, either via peaceful means, or the other way,” al-Zouba said, reflecting the narrowing diplomatic options.