Houthis Claim Attacks on Two Saudi Oil Tankers as Red Sea Blockade Escalates

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed on Wednesday that they attacked two Saudi oil tankers, intensifying their maritime blockade of the kingdom as they vowed to expand operations in the Red Sea.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group "successfully targeted" the Saudi oil tanker Wafa with several ballistic missiles in the northern Red Sea, off the coast of Yanbu.

In a later statement, Saree said the rebels also struck the Saudi oil tanker Daisy in the Gulf of Aden with a ballistic missile.

Saudi authorities did not immediately comment on the claims.

According to Houthi figures, the two vessels were the eighth and ninth Saudi oil tankers targeted since the group launched its blockade last month.

The Houthis said they would step up attacks in the northern Red Sea after accusing Saudi Arabia of rerouting its oil tankers through the area to bypass the group's blockade farther south.

"The blockade has pushed Saudi Arabia to divert its oil tankers towards the northern Red Sea," Saree said, adding that the group would now "escalate in targeting Saudi oil tankers in the northern Red Sea to close all access points and prevent their passage."

The Houthi campaign has further complicated Saudi Arabia's oil exports after Iran's parallel closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted the kingdom's primary Gulf shipping route.

With the Strait of Hormuz closed, Saudi Arabia has relied on its Red Sea port of Yanbu as its main oil export terminal, making the Bab al-Mandeb Strait a critical maritime corridor linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, and the Suez Canal.

According to maritime tracking data from Kpler, Saudi seaborne crude exports through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait increased eightfold between March and mid-July 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. Exports reached nearly 100 million barrels in June, up from about seven million barrels in February.

Kpler data also showed that all of Saudi Arabia's seaborne crude exports departed from Yanbu during April and May.