Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would intervene again if maritime navigation in the Red Sea or the Bab al-Mandab Strait came under threat, stressing that Washington is prepared to take “very strong” action against the Houthi group, as it has done previously.
Trump said the U.S. administration carried out approximately 45 days of intensive operations against the Houthis, claiming that those actions had eliminated any problems with the group since then.
“If something happens in Bab al-Mandab, we will deal with it—and we’ve done it before with the Houthis,” Trump said. “If there is any threat in the Red Sea, we will simply have to deal with it.”
The U.S. president added that the United States is prepared to act “very forcefully again” if developments require it, asserting that previous operations against the Houthis had been effective in protecting maritime navigation.
Trump’s remarks came after the Houthis announced what they described as a “maritime navigation ban” targeting Saudi Arabia, marking a new escalation in Red Sea tensions. In response, Saudi Arabia said it would take all necessary measures to protect its vessels and maritime interests in accordance with international law, while the Saudi-led coalition announced the launch of operational measures to safeguard commercial shipping in Bab al-Mandab Strait.
In a related development, Reuters reported that shipping data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) showed that two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude bound for China and India reversed course in the Red Sea, signaling that recent security developments are already affecting commercial shipping.
The United States conducted a broad military campaign against Houthi positions between March and July 2025, carrying out weeks of strikes targeting military facilities, missile launch sites, and drone infrastructure as part of efforts to curb attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab. U.S. officials later said the pace of Houthi attacks on commercial vessels had declined following the campaign.
