Saudi sets up maritime defence alliance to secure Red Sea

RIYADH, July 31: Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it had 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 the US-Iranian standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.�" AFP