Houthis vow retaliation after Saudi-led coalition strikes in Yemen

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi movement vowed to retaliate against Saudi Arabia on Saturday amid renewed tensions in the Middle East.

Attacks on civilian targets would “not go unpunished,” the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported, citing Houthi sources.

Late on Friday, the Saudi-led military coalition said it had carried out strikes in Yemen in response to an attack on a Saudi-flagged ship.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the strikes targeted “legitimate military objectives” belonging to the Houthi militia in the Yemeni province of Hodeidah linked to threats against shipping in the Red Sea.

Media outlets aligned with the Houthis reported airstrikes in the port city of Hodeidah. Reports indicated that the state-owned telecommunications company in Hodeidah and Kamaran Island had been hit.

Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported Houthi counterattacks in Saudi Arabia followed, including explosions in the port city of Yanbu. The coastal city of Jazan was also reportedly attacked with rockets.

The claims could not initially be independently verified.

The escalation opens a new front in the Middle East conflict that has gripped the region since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Alongside Tehran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, tensions are now rapidly mounting in the Red Sea, raising the prospect of further disruption to another of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.

The Houthis control much of northern Yemen and large stretches of the country’s Red Sea coastline, giving them the ability to target commercial shipping passing through the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait with missiles, drones and cruise missiles.

While the Strait of Hormuz on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula has been the focal point of repeated attacks on oil tankers and merchant vessels during the conflict with Iran, the Bab al-Mandab on the peninsula’s western flank is equally critical.

Known as the “Gateway of Tears,” it links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and carries a large share of maritime trade between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal.

The waterway has become increasingly important as an alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz, particularly for Saudi oil exports.

Analysts warn that any further escalation between Washington and Tehran could prompt the Houthis to intensify attacks on shipping and potentially disrupt traffic through the Suez Canal, adding to pressure on global supply chains.