The Yemeni government accuses the Houthis of planning an Iranian-led Red Sea transit toll system | Today’s news
Yemen’s government has accused Iran-backed Houthi rebels of working with Tehran to create a system of fees for commercial vessels passing through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, calling the alleged plan a major threat to global shipping and energy markets.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said on Wednesday (29 July) that recently obtained intelligence indicated that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was helping the Houthis establish a technical and administrative framework to collect payments from shipping companies using one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors.
“Intelligence indicates that IRGC experts and advisers are directly involved in designing the project’s technical and administrative framework,” AFP quoted al-Eryani as saying.
He reportedly claimed that the plan included the establishment of a specialized body responsible for collecting transit payments from commercial vessels and warned that the initiative would turn a key international shipping route into a permanent source of funding for the Houthis’ military operations.
Al-Eryani described the alleged move as “a dangerous escalation aimed at turning one of the world’s most strategic maritime corridors into a permanent source of funding for the militia’s military and terrorist activities.”
The blockade raises concerns about oil supplies
The accusations come amid heightened tensions in the Red Sea, where the Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia last week and have since claimed attacks targeting Saudi oil tankers and energy infrastructure.
The Báb al-Mandab Strait has become increasingly important to global energy supplies after conflict-related disruptions severely curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway serves as a vital route for Saudi Arabia to export oil to international markets.
The Houthi blockade has already threatened Saudi Arabia’s ability to export millions of barrels of oil a day and potentially cut off the kingdom’s only major alternative seaborne export route as tensions continue to affect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran discussed the fee proposal with the Houthis
Reuters reported that senior Houthi officials traveled to Iran in July to attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, where Iranian officials discussed the possibility of imposing transit fees on ships passing through Bab el-Mandeb.
According to two regional officials briefed by Tehran, the proposal aims to normalize the practice of charging fees for the use of international waterways and increase pressure on the United States. The sources added that Chinese vessels would be exempt from the proposed fees and that the Houthis support such an arrangement.
China, the world’s biggest importer of Saudi oil, has previously held direct talks with the Houthis to allow its tankers to pass through the southern Red Sea without being targeted, Reuters reported, citing sources.
Iranian advisers reportedly helped
Reuters quoted an Arab official as saying that Houthi officials returning from Tehran were accompanied by Iranian advisers tasked with helping set up an authority to regulate and collect transit fees through Bab el-Mandeb.
“The Houthis will try to gain access through the Red Sea, and if they succeed, they will try to attack the ships,” Afrah al-Zouba, foreign minister-designate in Yemen’s internationally recognized government, told Reuters.
Western diplomats told Reuters that any attempt by the Houthis to impose such charges was likely to face strong opposition from Gulf and European countries. However, they noted that international maritime forces remain overstretched and there is limited political appetite for a broader military response to protect merchant shipping.
The Houthis have not publicly responded to the Yemeni government’s accusations about the proposed transit fee system or the alleged involvement of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
