# Rebels threaten new key waterway as US-Iran fighting intensifies — retained record

> Retained news record from news:semafor.

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:semafor)  published 2026-07-20 14:35 ingested 2026-07-21 08:20

[original source ↗](https://www.semafor.com/article/07/20/2026/red-sea-gateway-at-war-risk-as-us-iran-fighting-intensifies)

## retained text



```
Houthi rebels in Yemen have announced a “maritime embargo” of Saudi Arabia, cutting off a key route for the kingdom’s oil exports.
The Iran-allied group, which controls northern Yemen, pledged in a televised address Monday to block Saudi ships travelling south through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, leaving the region’s two main trade arteries disrupted at once.
Around 9% of global maritime trade flows through Bab el-Mandeb, including 3.1 million barrels of oil a day before the war — a figure that has grown as Saudi Arabia reroutes 70% of its energy exports through western Red Sea ports to circumvent Hormuz in the east.
The Houthis have made good on such threats before: for more than 18 months after Israel’s invasion of Gaza, their attacks forced much of the world’s shipping onto the route around southern Africa, despite a US-led naval coalition sent to stop them.
```



document fetched 2026-07-21 08:20 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/07/20/2026/red-sea-gateway-at-war-risk-as-us-iran-fighting-intensifies