Houthi attack on Saudi tankers widens Red Sea crisis amid US strikes on Iran

Houthi rebels said they hit two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea as US forces struck Iran again. The attacks sharpen fears for global shipping and show diplomacy is failing to contain the war.Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said early Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, while the US military said it carried out a 12th straight night of strikes against Iran as the two sides battle for control of key shipping lanes.The Houthi attack raised the risk of the conflict spreading further, with possible effects on global trade, fuel prices and the wider economy. At the same time, there were no signs of progress in efforts to end the war, even as regional countries continued to push for de-escalation.The Houthis said they struck two tankers, Encelia and Layla, in the Red Sea, causing fires on both vessels. If confirmed, it would be their first reported attack on a vessel since they announced a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait earlier this week. They said the move was in retaliation for the kingdom's blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital.Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a major shipping chokepoint linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Around 12 per cent of global trade, including a quarter of the world's container traffic, passes through it between Europe and Asia via Egypt's Suez Canal. Saudi state media, quoting an unidentified source in the General Authority of Transport, said Encelia caught fire after an overnight attack in the Red Sea. The Saudi Press Agency said the strike caused a fire at the bow of the ship but there were no casualties. It did not mention Layla. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it had received a report of a tanker being hit by "an unknown projectile" 70 nautical miles, or 130 kilometres, southwest of Al Shuqaiq in Saudi Arabia, and said no casualties had been reported.The fresh fighting came as the US and Iran remained locked in a dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global energy supplies that remains largely closed. During peacetime, a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas passed through the strait, and its closure has hit the world economy well beyond the Middle East. Iran says it has the right to manage traffic there and could charge fees, and it has attacked ships using a route overseen by US forces and meant to remain outside Tehran's control. US Central Command said its strikes were meant to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters," as Washington seeks to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore international shipping. In response to Iran's attacks, the US re-imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and widened its strike campaign across the country. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump also signalled that US forces could soon target an under-construction Iranian nuclear site buried deep under a mountain.Trump had earlier warned that the US would attack civilian infrastructure if Iran fired at ships in the strait. "From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT," he wrote on social media. International law generally bars such attacks unless the infrastructure is being used for military purposes. Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has led negotiations with the US, appeared to dismiss the threat, writing on social media: "We have repeatedly said that the situation of the strait will not return to prewar conditions."The cost of the war continued to rise. Trump travelled to Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday for the arrival of the remains of four US service members. A day earlier, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate hearing that the US had spent USD 37.5 billion on the war so far. In Iran, state media said US missiles struck areas near Ahvaz, Ramshir and Andimeshk in western Iran, and that two people were killed in a missile strike in Shalamcheh on the Iraqi border.Iran has answered US attacks by targeting energy infrastructure and desalination plants that supply drinking water in neighbouring Gulf countries. Military officials in Kuwait said on social media that their air defences were "confronting attacks by hostile drones, following the sinful Iranian aggression." Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would follow an "eye for an eye" defence doctrine. "Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response," he posted on X on Wednesday.On the diplomatic front, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni held meetings in recent days in Pakistan, a key mediator, in an effort to revive talks. But it remained unclear what kind of arrangement could end a war that has increasingly become a fight over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Interior Ministry spokesperson Ali Zeinivand said "diplomacy isn't called off" and that messages were still being exchanged, according to IRNA, without giving details.An Arab diplomat said Gulf states were growing more pessimistic about finding a way to stop the fighting and were especially worried by the latest threats. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said countries in the region, along with Pakistan and Turkey, were still trying to push for de-escalation, but the chances of progress looked bleak. At a regional summit in the Philippines, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US remained open to talks with Iran, "but right now they don't seem to be serious about that" and the immediate focus was on protecting shipping.Overall, the conflict widened on Thursday with the reported Houthi strikes in the Red Sea and continuing US attacks on Iran, even as the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz remained unresolved and diplomatic efforts showed little sign of a breakthrough.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Jul 23, 2026 12:50 IST