Saudi Arabia Urges U.S. to Drop Houthi Blockade, Iran Threatens Hormuz

BlockBeats News, April 14th, according to the WSJ report, Arab officials revealed that Saudi Arabia is pressuring the United States to abandon the blockade of the Hormuz Strait and return to the negotiation table. Saudi Arabia's core concern is that Iran may retaliate by using the Houthi militia to block the Bab el Mandeb Strait, a key chokepoint in the Red Sea that Saudi Arabia relies on to maintain its oil exports as its lifeline after the blockade of the Hormuz Strait.

Previously, Saudi Arabia had redirected most of its crude oil exports from the Ras Tanura facility in the Persian Gulf to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea coast, with a current daily export volume of approximately 7 million barrels, essentially restoring pre-war levels. However, if the Bab el Mandeb Strait is also blocked, these supplies would face a direct threat.

Iran's Supreme Leader's foreign policy adviser Velayati publicly stated on April 5th that Iran views the Bab el Mandeb Strait "just as it does the Hormuz Strait," warning that global energy and trade flows "can be cut off with a single signal." Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency also made it clear that the U.S. blockade could lead to Iran closing the Red Sea passage.

Meanwhile, the Houthi militia, controlling large stretches of coastline near the Bab el Mandeb Strait, is Iran's ready-made tool to execute this threat. Baran, a Yemen expert at the Washington think tank "New America," said, "If Iran does want to block the Bab el Mandeb Strait, the Houthis are an obvious partner, and they have already proven capable of doing so." Arab officials warn that if Iran further escalates pressure, the Houthi militia may become more aggressively involved in the conflict, even going as far as imposing fees on passing ships. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, before the Gaza War, 9.3 million barrels of crude oil passed through the Bab el Mandeb Strait daily, a number that has halved since the Houthi militia's intervention.