How Houthis’ Red Sea Threat Risks Bigger Oil Shock: Explainer

One thing that’s helped limit the Iran war’s disruption to global oil supply is the ability of Saudi Arabia to use an alternative export route to the Strait of Hormuz: the Red Sea.

The fragility of this workaround was laid bare after the Houthis, an Iran-backed militant group that controls part of Yemen, declared a “complete and total ban” on Israeli ships in the area, saying that these vessels are “legitimate military targets.”

The Houthis previously attacked ships near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the southern Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, from 2023 to 2025. This was ...