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Houthi strikes widen Red Sea
Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, and the attacks followed the Houthis’ announcement of a naval blockade of Saudi ports.
The Guardian reported that Brent crude futures broke through the $100-a-barrel threshold Thursday for the first time in roughly two months after the Houthis claimed strikes on two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea.
NBC News said Brent crude closed higher by 7% at $100.69 per barrel, and it rose as high as $102 per barrel earlier in the trading day.
The BBC of the conflict’s immediate maritime impact was the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint, which the Guardian described as a vital shipping route connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
In the same reporting stream, the Houthis’ Saba news agency said the rebels struck the Encelia and the Layla, causing fires on both.
Trump, Rubio, and Guterres react
President Donald Trump told Axios he was “considering a massive attack” and said, “I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it.”
In the same period, Trump wrote on social media that “major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in the Philippines that the Houthis were making a mistake by menacing shipping in the Red Sea and joining the fighting in the Middle East on behalf of Iran, saying, “I hope that they’ll stop.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the UN Security Council that “The situation is getting out of control. It is teetering on the edge of the unimaginable,” as the conflict’s escalation threatened shipping routes.
France 24 reported that Iran’s army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said, “The armed forces' retaliatory attacks will continue as long as the US attacks on the country's infrastructure and coastal areas continue,” after the Houthis struck Saudi shipping.
Energy shock and next moves
The oil-market consequences of the Yemen-linked Red Sea attacks were immediate, with NBC News reporting that U.S. crude oil closed higher by 6.2% at $92.19 per barrel and that the national average price Thursday rose to $4.09 per gallon.
“Saudi oil tanker attacked in Red Sea as Brent crude nears $100, rattling crypto markets Houthi missile strikes on Saudi-flagged tankers push oil past $98 per barrel and send risk assets into retreat”
NBC News also tied the surge to the Houthis’ claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers and their announcement of a naval blockade on the kingdom.
In parallel, The Guardian said the Houthi attacks threatened the safety of a second major maritime route connecting the Suez canal to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and it cited Lloyd’s List Intelligence saying the threat “raises questions on the viability of this route”.
The Washington Post described how the attacks imperil a second critical shipping route through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which it said carries about 7 percent of global oil supply.
As the next phase of retaliation loomed, CNBC reported that Trump said the U.S. would hold Iran responsible for any future Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, threatening to inflict “major military punishment” on Tehran and the militants in Yemen.
