Post by Council on Foreign Relations

Yemen's Houthi rebels declared on July 20 that they would impose a complete naval blockade on Saudi Arabia—opening a new front in the U.S.-Iran war. Although they didn’t provide specifics on what the blockade would entail, Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen runs directly along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait—at the south end of the Red Sea—which Saudi Arabia uses to export oil to the global market. Sustained interference in the Red Sea could trigger severe supply-chain delays, drive up energy prices, and further destabilize the global economy, experts say.