Houthis said on Thursday they attacked two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea after declaring a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia. A Saudi news agency later said one of the vessels was ablaze. The claim landed while the US was carrying out its 12th successive night of strikes against Iran.
Two very large Chinese crude carriers carrying a combined 4m barrels of Saudi Arabian oil were heading toward the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a route that connects the Red Sea to wider shipping lanes. For readers tracking cargo movement, the practical issue is not the statement alone but whether vessels keep their course or turn back before they reach the choke point.
Red Sea tanker claims
The Houthis’ blockade announcement put Saudi Arabian shipping on notice before the tanker claims were made public. The sequence matters because it links a declared maritime threat to a reported strike on commercial oil traffic, with the Red Sea becoming the immediate test of whether the threat is being enforced beyond words.
More detail on the ship movements appears in a separate account of the reversal of two tankers in the Red Sea shipping threat, and in another account of the Bab el-Mandeb strait reversal of two Saudi tankers. Together, those reports point to a sharp operational response from shipping operators once the Houthi warning reached the market.
US strikes on Iran
The US said its military targets in Iran were hit to degrade Tehran’s ability to attack commercial vessels. On the same day, Iranian state TV said two people were killed and 11 wounded in a US missile attack on the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq. The parallel claims show a widening set of targets across land and sea, not a single isolated incident.
Abbas Araghchi warned before the latest US strikes that any aggression against Iran would compel a powerful and decisive response. He said, “Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye.” He also said, “Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response. Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets.”
Hormuz control dispute
The IRGC said it stopped three oil tankers from passing through the strait of Hormuz, and said the tankers were trying to use a mine-laden route south of the strait. The IRGC said one of them exploded and caught fire, and said the other two quickly turned around and headed back. US Central Command rejected the claim that Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, saying, “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. The international waterway remains open for transit regardless of IRGC threats and attacks.”
That dispute matters for any ship deciding whether to keep moving through Red Sea and Hormuz waters. Donald Trump also said on Truth Social that from now any time Iran shot at a ship in the Hormuz strait, the US would bomb and destroy one bridge or power plant, including those located next to, or in, the capital city of Tehran. For carriers already near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the immediate calculation is simple: a route that looked normal a day earlier can become a turn-back decision before the next checkpoint.
The next public pressure point is not a new slogan but the next move by the US, the Houthis, and the IRGC after the tanker claims and the Hormuz dispute collided on the same day. Whether the Houthis’ claimed attack on the Saudi tankers caused damage beyond the vessel said to be ablaze is the open issue hanging over the shipping lane.
