DUBAI — Yemen’s Houthi movement on Sunday said it had “entered the war” against Israel and its allies, hours after the group fired a barrage of anti-ship missiles across the Red Sea and Iranian forces carried out separate missile drills in the Strait of Hormuz, shipping and security officials said.
The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, claimed responsibility for at least six anti-ship ballistic missiles launched toward the Gulf of Aden. No vessels were hit, but the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) office reported explosions close enough to force three commercial container ships to alter course or anchor. “Crews observed bright flashes and heard two loud blasts off the port bow,” a master’s safety report seen by SourceRated stated.
Almost simultaneously, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced overnight missile tests near the Strait of Hormuz, saying the exercise was designed to “demonstrate regional deterrence.” Gulf-based shipping agents said the drill temporarily closed a pocket of airspace and prompted tankers to slow-walk through the narrow waterway that handles roughly a fifth of global crude exports.
“The Houthis and Iran don’t have to stop traffic completely to spike freight rates — a handful of launches and a televised drill will do the job,” said Maysa al-Sabri, a maritime-risk analyst at Gulf Strategies, noting that Lloyd’s Market Association on Monday raised war-risk insurance premiums for Red Sea transits to their highest since 2021.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney intercepted two Houthi-launched drones earlier in the day, calling the action “self-defense.” Israel’s government had no immediate comment, but an Israeli official, speaking on background, said any direct attack on Israeli-flagged shipping would be treated as “an escalation requiring response.”
The combined moves underscore fears that the six-month Israel-Hamas war could broaden into a multi-front regional conflict engulfing vital trade arteries. Data from ship-tracking firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence showed an 18 percent drop in commercial traffic passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait over the past 48 hours compared with the weekly average, though the figure could not be independently confirmed.
Looking ahead, Western diplomats said a U.S-led naval task force created last December to deter Houthi attacks may expand its mandate to cover the Gulf of Oman if Iranian drills persist. Meanwhile, brokers in London told SourceRated that some operators are already rerouting Asia-bound cargoes around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, a detour that adds roughly 10 days and 15 percent to fuel costs.
“If the Red Sea and Hormuz both wobble at the same time, supply chains will feel it in weeks, not months,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta. “Ultimately, the pressure will show up on consumer prices from Rotterdam to Los Angeles.”