Saudi Arabia announced plans on Monday to create a multinational maritime defense coalition aimed at protecting international shipping and energy supply routes in the Red Sea region after attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels disrupted one of the world's busiest trade corridors, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said 14 countries, including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, had adopted a joint declaration in support of the proposed coalition. Oman and the United Arab Emirates are not among the Gulf Arab countries that supported the declaration, Reuters notes.
The ministry said that representatives from 43 countries and the EU attended an international meeting to discuss the proposal to create a coalition, the founder and leading country of which would be Saudi Arabia. The kingdom also wants to host the coalition’s headquarters.
The ministry said the coalition would strengthen maritime security, ensure freedom of navigation, guarantee the security of international trade routes and energy supply routes, and protect common maritime interests in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden.
Today’s announcement comes a day after two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters that Saudi Arabia was seeking to establish an international coalition to protect shipping in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks.
On July 20, the Houthis said they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, and have since claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on ships linked to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia responded with airstrikes on what it said were Houthi military facilities in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, used to threaten commercial shipping.
The tensions in the Red Sea have made it the latest front in a wider war with Iran, with attacks on ships spreading beyond the Persian Gulf and pushing up oil prices.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the southern Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, is a key sea route for global trade and energy supplies.
The EU launched a naval mission in the Red Sea in 2024 to help restore and protect freedom of navigation after the Houthis disrupted maritime traffic by attacking ships in solidarity with the Palestinians during the war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.