{"id":86862,"date":"2026-07-23T03:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/houthis-claim-attack-on-saudi-tankers-in-red-sea\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T03:48:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T03:48:00","slug":"houthis-claim-attack-on-saudi-tankers-in-red-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=86862","title":{"rendered":"Houthis claim attack on Saudi tankers in Red Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">Yemen&#8217;s Houthis say they have attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea as the US launched its 12th consecutive night of strikes on Iran. <\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Iranian state media said two people had been killed in the US strikes on Wednesday, and a tanker caught fire in an explosion in a mined route in the Strait of Hormuz.<b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\"> <\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Ahead of the latest round of strikes, US President Donald Trump had threatened to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant if Iran attacked a ship in the strait and to &#8220;take care of&#8221; the Houthis if they blocked the Red Sea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">If confirmed, the Houthi attack would be the first since the Iran-backed group announced a &#8220;maritime embargo&#8221; against Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Houthis named the tankers as the Encelia and the Layla, though their responsibility has not been confirmed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The group&#8217;s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said they had targeted the ships with drones and missiles for allegedly violating its naval blockade. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Saree added that the Houthis promised to continue their naval operations and would continue &#8220;enforcing the &#8216;siege for a siege&#8217; equation&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The state-run Saudi Press Agency confirmed early on Thursday that the Encelia was struck &#8220;while sailing in the Red Sea&#8221;, resulting in a fire on its bow. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Citing an unnamed official source at the Transport General Authority, it described the<b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\"> <\/b>attack as a violation of international law. All crew were safe, it reported<b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">UK Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO) reported an &#8220;unknown projectile&#8221; struck a Saudi tanker<b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\"> <\/b>about 130km from Al Shuqaiq in Saudi Arabia at 20:00 GMT. The attack caused a fire but no casualties, it said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">British maritime risk management group Vanguard also reported that the Saudi tanker Encelia had been hit. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The attack on the Layla has not been confirmed. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">US Central Command (Centcom) said at 21:30 GMT it had launched strikes at Trump&#8217;s direction &#8220;to further degrade Iran&#8217;s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The strikes targeted &#8220;Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain soon reported responding to airborne threats, before Iran&#8217;s military said they had targeted US assets in all three countries, according to AFP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Iranian state media reported two people had been killed in US strikes on the country&#8217;s south near its border with Iraq. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Meanwhile, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) said the Strait of Hormuz was &#8220;completely closed&#8221; after an explosion in the channel, Iranian state media reported. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The IRGC said it had stopped three oil tankers from passing through the strait.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">One tanker caught fire and two others turned back after attempting to pass through a mined route south of the strait, according to Iranian state media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It comes after Trump promised earlier on Wednesday to attack an Iranian bridge or power plant if its forces hit ships in the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Iran&#8217;s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later warned of an &#8220;eye for an eye&#8221; response to attacks on Iran.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">On Tuesday, Trump told reporters he would &#8220;take care of the Houthis&#8221; should they obstruct the Red Sea as they had said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Few details of the &#8220;maritime embargo&#8221; were given by the Houthis when it was announced on Monday, but a media official said they were closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait &#8211; the Red Sea&#8217;s southern gateway &#8211; to Saudi vessels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cpw9xzx9r4ko?at_medium=RSS&#038;at_campaign=rss\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yemen&#8217;s Houthis say they have attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea as the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":86863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[506,2013,2499,495,219,1291,8665],"class_list":["post-86862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","tag-attack","tag-claim","tag-houthis","tag-red","tag-saudi","tag-sea","tag-tankers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - 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