Saudi Arabia has set up a maritime defence alliance to secure navigation around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The move comes after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said last week they were imposing a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and claimed attacks targeting Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea and oil infrastructure in the kingdom.
The narrow maritime artery has been a critical waterway for delivering vast quantities of Saudi crude to the international market, after energy exports from the Gulf were largely choked off by the US-Iranian standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Saudi defence ministry issued a joint statement on behalf of the 14 countries in the alliance: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Turkey and Yemen.