“ The Red Sea is heating up again, and this time Saudi Arabia didn’t wait long to respond” .On Friday, the Saudi-led coalition hit Houthi military sites in Yemen’s Hodeidah province. Because just two days earlier, the Houthis claimed they’d struck two Saudi oil tankers — Encelia and Layla — with drones and missiles. One caught fire. Thankfully, everyone on board made it out safe.

The renewed attacks have also fueled fears across global energy markets, with oil prices surging sharply as investors react to escalating tensions in the Middle East. Read more in our coverage of Oil Prices Cross $100 a Barrel as Iran War and Red Sea Attacks Rattle Global Markets.

“ Saudi Arabia According to the coalition, only what they call “legitimate” military targets — places the Houthis allegedly use to threaten ships passing through” . A security source in Yemen said a naval base in Hodeidah and a military camp on Kamaran Island took the brunt of it. Houthi-run media claimed telecom facilities in Hodeidah were also hit, though that’s harder to independently confirm.

“ Saudi coalition spokesman “Turki al-Maliki” didn’t mince words” . He called the Houthi ship attacks “cowardly and reckless” and said the coalition would keep doing whatever it takes to protect the waters. As for Friday’s strikes, he says that operation is done — for now.

“ The Houthis, unsurprisingly, aren’t backing down. One of their military spokesmen basically warned Saudi Arabia that it just opened a door it might regret opening” .

This isn’t some one-off spat. Last week, the Houthis announced a so-called maritime blockade targeting “ Saudi-flagged vessels in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait — a tiny stretch of water that happens to carry almost a third of the entire world’s shipping containers” . That’s not a small thing to threaten. Curiously, a Houthi spokesperson claimed Friday that they’re not actually blocking the strait. Make of that what you will.

“ And the attacks haven’t stopped. On Saturday, yet another Saudi-flagged ship, the NCC Masa, got hit while sailing through the Red Sea. It got some hull damage but kept going — crew was fine, ship kept moving” . Saudi air defenses also say they shot down two ballistic missiles fired from Yemen that same day.

Zoom out even further and you’ll see Iran hovering over all of this. “ Trump already warned earlier in the week that if the Houthis keep attacking ships, the US will hold Iran responsible — not just the Houthis, since Washington sees them as basically an Iranian proxy” .

“ Saudi Arabia says its response is over. But nobody actually believes this is the end of it. The Houthis haven’t dropped their blockade threat, and every ship still moving through that stretch of water is basically rolling the dice” .

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