Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers, ENCELA and LAYLIA, in the Red Sea, spokesman Yahya Saree saying the attacks used “a number of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones” and sparked fires aboard the ships. Saree said the strikes punished the vessels for violating a maritime blockade the Houthis declared on July 20 and that the group had forced “nearly ten ships” to abandon their routes and turn back. Saudi Arabia has not commented, while the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said it received reports that a tanker had been struck and quoted the ship’s master saying an unknown projectile caused a fire the crew were fighting. Analysts and Houthis’ spokespeople warned the action threatens alternative oil routes through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb that Riyadh has been using amid wider regional tensions. The Houthis framed the blockade as “an eye for an eye” response to what they described as a long-standing Saudi siege, a rationale echoed by Sanaa-based journalist Hussain al-Bukhaiti. Previous Houthi attacks around Bab al-Mandeb disrupted global commerce after October 2023 and ended with a Gaza ceasefire in October 2025; the group and the United States reached a mediated arrangement in May 2025, showing such disruptions can prompt international negotiations.
