Jamie Ingram

Yemen’s Houthis claimed attacks on two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea on 22 July, days after the group had announced a blockade on Saudi Arabia (MEES, 24 July). The group announced that it had struck the Encelia Aframax and Layla VLCC, the latter owned by Saudi shipping firm Bahri. The UKMTO said on 22 July that a tanker had been struck by a projectile 70 nautical miles southwest of Saudi Arabia’s Shuqaiq port, and Saudi Arabia’s SPA news agency confirmed the attack on Encelia.

The Houthi blockade on Saudi shipments through the Bab al-Mandeb threatens to severely disrupt the largest Middle East Hormuz-bypass route. Saudi Arabia has been exporting around 5mn b/d of crude oil and refined products from the Red Sea since the start of the Middle East conflict, most of which goes through the narrow chokepoint.

On 22 July, Saudi Arabia and the US were celebrating a landmark nuclear cooperation agreement that the US Department of Energy said would “lay the legal foundation for a decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership.” The ‘123 agreement’ was accompanied by a bilateral safeguards agreement, and was a major step forward for Saudi Arabia’s plans to build a nuclear power plant.