Yemen’s Houthis declare naval blockade of Saudi Arabia

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move that opens a new front against the United States in its war on Iran and widens the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf. The Houthis made their announcement despite signs that Tehran and Washington want to resume diplomacy to halt a worsening cycle of attacks that has all but wrecked a fragile interim agreement signed last month. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said mediators had presented “proposals” to Tehran, signalling that diplomatic contacts remain active, but gave no details. The announcement on Monday came days after the group, officially known as Ansar Allah, threatened a “siege” on the kingdom in retaliation for an attack on Sanaa International Airport last week. The Houthis also expressed “complete readiness for all options” and warned that “any foolish” Saudi act would be met with a “comprehensive and decisive” response. In their statement, the Houthis said the declaration of the maritime embargo was “based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’ and affirmed “the right of our great people to respond to the blockade with a blockade” and to “all escalation with escalation”.
Oil prices rose briefly after the Houthi statement but later fell back as traders held out hope of a diplomatic breakthrough in the war. Iran had been pressing the Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea if the U.S. continued to attack Iranian power infrastructure. The full closure of the Bab el-Mandeb strait would reduce global oil supply by 7% as it would leave most of Saudi oil exports unable to leave the region. The disruption would add to the huge cut to global oil flows from the war in the Gulf, which has already reduced shipments by 10% of global supply.
In their statement, the Houthis’ armed forces said they were declaring “a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye’, effective immediately” in response to what they called “an unjust and oppressive siege” imposed on Yemen by the Saudis. There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia.
The war has killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, part of which has been occupied by Israeli forces following attacks on Israel by Hezbollah militants who said they were acting in solidarity with Tehran. 
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers had exploded after attempting to transit the strait via an “unsafe” route. On Sunday, the IRGC had said two ships were involved in an “accident” in the same area. It was unclear whether the two incidents were related.
In Iran, explosions were reported in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini. One person was killed and several wounded southwest of Tabriz, according to state news agency IRNA. Kuwait’s government said a desalination plant had been attacked on Sunday for the second day running, causing a fire, in what it called a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure. Desalination facilities supply most drinking water in many Gulf states, serving tens of millions of people in one of the world’s driest regions. Iran accused the U.S. on Saturday of hitting one of its own desalination plants.