Houthis increase pressure on key Middle East trade routes

Houthi attacks in Yemen have expanded beyond the country’s civil war, increasing pressure on two major maritime trade routes in the Middle East. The group has seized positions along Yemen’s western coast, including strategic areas controlling the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and declared a naval blockade against vessels linked to Saudi Arabia.

The developments come as shipping traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz has fallen sharply. As a result, two key passages linking the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea with Asia and Europe are under pressure at the same time.

Number of ships passing through straits declines