Saudi Arabia is preparing for a large-scale military offensive against the Houthis by sea and possibly by land in central Yemen, Yemeni sources quoted by the "Guardian" believe, in an attempt to cut off control over oil exports through the southern Red Sea.
Saudi forces are seen withdrawing from eastern Yemen, which could be preparation for a ground offensive. Meanwhile, Riyadh is trying to organize a naval coalition to protect ships from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said on Thursday that 14 countries, including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan and Djibouti, had issued a joint statement in support of a multinational maritime defense coalition.
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and much of the Red Sea coastline, announced on July 20 that they were imposing a blockade on Saudi ships, but denied that they planned to impose tariffs on all ships.
The group says it will lift the blockade once Saudi Arabia lifts its blockade on Yemen, positioning the dispute as a matter for the future of its homeland rather than directly about Iran. Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015 in support of the country's UN-recognized government against the Houthi rebels.
Riyadh has also asked the United States and a group of European countries, including Germany, France, Britain and Italy, to join a coalition in the Red Sea.
The EU already has a naval protection mission, known as Aspides, operating in the Red Sea, and it remains unclear whether the Houthis are imposing a general blockade or one targeting Saudi Arabia alone.
On July 25, Houthi forces said they had struck "sensitive" oil transportation facilities in Saudi Arabia, connecting oil fields in the Eastern Province to an export hub in the Red Sea.
If the Red Sea route is closed to Saudi ships in addition to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, the kingdom's oil exports will be severely restricted.
Up to 80% of Saudi crude was transported through the Strait of Hormuz before the start of the war with Iran. As a result, the Red Sea has grown in importance, with more than half of Saudi oil now transported by land to cargo terminals in the port city of Yanbu.
Saudi strikes in Iraq on Wednesday killed at least 20 people, in retaliation for attacks on their oil facilities by Iraqi militias. Donald Trump said the joint US-Saudi attacks were carried out with the consent of the Iraqi government, a claim that Baghdad has not confirmed.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman held an emergency meeting with Trump and J.D. Vance on Wednesday to discuss next steps. The Saudis are keen to show they will defend themselves and their industry but are reluctant to escalate the war against Iran, arguing that the differences between the US and Iran can still be resolved through diplomacy.
The troop movement in Yemen includes a concentration of forces for what could be an attack on Al-Bayda, a governorate in central-southern Yemen that the Houthis seized in 2020-21, the sources said.
Fighting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia has flared up in the past two weeks, with the Houthis stepping up their attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities. The strikes in Saudi Arabia came hours after Saudi airstrikes targeted Houthi-controlled targets in the port of Hodeidah and a third Saudi merchant ship was attacked in the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have been fighting for control of Yemen for more than a decade, and in the past month the precarious status quo has crumbled.
Tensions in Yemen would ease if Gulf states and Iran could reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Talks between Oman and Iran are ongoing, with Tehran insisting that all ships enter the strait via a northern route near Iran's coast.