The Guardian reports:

Yemen’s Iranian-aligned Houthis have warned shipping companies that their tankers risk being attacked if they use Saudi Arabian ports, as the militia moved quickly to enforce a blockade announced the previous day.

The Houthi warning for the Red Sea, coming on top of Iran’s threat to shipping on the other side of the Arabian peninsular in the Gulf, could affect the substantial Saudi oil exports that have so far been unscathed by the months-long conflict and deepen the rapidly escalating crisis in the region.

Underlining how seriously the Houthi threat is being taken, two oil tankers that had loaded Saudi crude ⁠this week for China and India made U-turns on Tuesday away from Houthi-controlled coast at the mouth of the Red Sea and headed towards the Suez canal. The Houthis claimed six ships had changed course.

Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US would “​just have to ​take ‌care ​of ​business” if the Houthis followed through on their threats. “You know, we’ve done that with the Houthis before, and we haven’t heard from them in a while since we did what we did originally,” he said at White House meeting with the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun.

The Houthi threat came as diplomats sought to salvage the collapsed interim deal between Iran and the US even as both countries continued to launch attacks in a 10th day of renewed fighting, including a visit to Pakistan by the Iranian interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, an important mediator in the conflict.

Sources suggested that behind the scenes there were indications that both sides might be seeking a way out of the latest round of intensive strikes. The news site Axios suggested that the Trump administration was weighing whether to escalate the conflict further or to seek a 10-day ceasefire to create the space for a new round of talks. [Continue reading…]