Saudi Arabia said it will take all measures to protect ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the entrance to the Red Sea, against the maritime blockade threat from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
Saudi state-run SPA news agency said Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, Spokesperson for the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia, said in a statement on the 20th (local time) that "the Joint Forces Command is taking all firm and resolute measures, consistent with international humanitarian law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to protect merchant ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait."
He added, "All Houthi threats targeting ships transiting the strait blatantly violate international law and amount to acts of piracy, so we will respond swiftly and decisively."
International humanitarian law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea each prohibit attacks targeting civilians during armed conflict and control measures that block freedom of navigation in international waterways.
Al-Maliki criticized the Houthis' claim that the maritime blockade measures are in response to Saudi Arabia's blockade of Houthi ports and airports as "lies spread to escalate tensions."
He said, "In the first half of 2026, more than 300 merchant ships carrying food, goods, oil and construction materials entered the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa," and noted that "it is the Houthi militia (rebels) that closed Sana International Airport and rejected proposals to resume flights."
The Saudi Foreign Ministry also criticized the Houthi threat in a statement. According to AFP, the ministry said in the statement, "We strongly condemn the so-called military Spokesperson of the terrorist group Houthi militia declaring a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia," adding that Saudi Arabia "will continue to support the legitimate government and people of our brother nation Yemen."
Earlier, Houthi Spokesperson Yahya Saree declared a maritime blockade, saying it was retaliation for Saudi Arabia bombing Sana airport in Yemen, which they control, and blockading ports.
The Houthis did not specify how the blockade would work, but some analysis says they aim to disrupt Saudi oil exports by closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
With the Strait of Hormuz closed again amid U.S.-Iran clashes, if the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea, is also blocked, the global energy supply chain could suffer severe disruptions.