Houthis in Yemen target Saudi oil exports

**Alex Ritzen** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
I'm Alex Ritzen and at 15h GMT on Thursday 23rd July, these are our main stories. Global oil prices spike after Houthi rebels in Yemen say they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, now a new danger area along with the Strait of Hormuz. India's Narendra Modi promises to punish corrupt officials involved in leaking exam papers, but it may not be enough to quell widespread angry protests against the government. Raids on independent bookstores in Hong Kong make I am a bookstore employee into a growing protest slogan.

**Thomas Wolfe** (0:45)
Also in this podcast, the goal has always been we need to match the defense. And so you need to have on the other side roughly the same amount of defense.

**Alex Ritzen** (0:55)
We hear from the boss of the company that was on the receiving end of an unprecedented AI hack.
We begin in the Middle East. As the US and Iran continue exchanging strikes, yet another front in this broad conflict has opened up in Yemen. On Monday, the Iran-backed Houthis announced what they're calling a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea in retaliation for a Saudi blockade of their own ports in Yemen. Now, the Houthis say they've hit two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. The Saudi News Agency has so far confirmed that one tanker was hit and that there was a fire on board. Our international editor, Jeremy Bowen, told us about the significance of the Houthi blockade.

**Jeremy Bowen** (1:44)
The Houthis have their own disputes with the Saudis, and the way to think about them really is an ally of Iran rather than a proxy because they're very independent minded. But one thing that they have not been doing of late until now is blocking the very strategic Bab al-Mandab, which is the narrow strait at the bottom of the Red Sea. They did that during the Gaza War to quite some effect. Now this is significant for the Saudis because the Saudis, because they can't get their oil out through the Strait of Hormuz because Iran blocks it, have been pumping a lot of it in their east-west pipeline to a Red Sea port and exporting it that way. So for the Saudis, this is quite serious economic damage potentially if it goes on.
And it's the case that the Saudis have a lot of military plans in place, and they certainly have been discussing the prospects of going back to war with the Houthis as a result of this. And of course, Donald Trump himself has said that the Americans could get involved. So this is another way in which the decision to go to war with Iran, taken by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu on the 28th of February, how that is spreading war across the region, potentially.

**Alex Ritzen** (3:04)
Jeremy Bowen. And since the Houthi strikes, oil and gas prices have shot up. Ben King is from our Business Unit.

**Ben King** (3:12)
Well, the rise in price is undoubtedly significant. Just a few minutes ago, the Brent crude oil price benchmark went above $99 a barrel. That's the highest level we've seen since early June. Gas prices in Europe and Asia have also been rising steadily. The European gas price is at its highest since March. And so understandably, that's a factor of great concern. And if you look, that's here in the UK, for instance, already feeding through to petrol prices. Petrol prices on the full courts here in the UK have been rising too. So that is going to have an economic effect. And I think if it continues, central banks will have to look at how they adjust their interest rates to control any inflationary results of these higher prices.

**Alex Ritzen** (3:59)
How important is this shipping lane, particularly given the near closure of the strata form? Can tankers still get through?

**Ben King** (4:08)
Yes, it's a very significant lifeline. The Saudis have been able to export about 5 million barrels a day from the port of Yanbu. Obviously, the Asian markets are very important and the most direct route to Asia is to go south past the Yemen. If that's no longer possible, crude tankers can still get through the Suez Canal.
And go round the long way around Africa, but the capacity of that will be limited and that adds a month to the journey. So it won't completely block that route, but it will restrict it. That will have an effect on the global oil market and that will result in higher prices.

**Alex Ritzen** (4:44)
The Saudis furious then?

**Ben King** (4:46)
I'm sure they must be, yes.