Saudi oil tankers bound for China, India turn back after Houthi Red Sea threat

Two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to China and India reversed course in the Red Sea on Tuesday after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels threatened to target ships transporting Saudi oil, raising fresh concerns over the security of one of the world's busiest energy corridors.

The vessels had loaded crude at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu before turning back towards the Suez Canal instead of continuing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the Indian Ocean, signalling the immediate impact of the Houthi announcement on commercial shipping.

The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, including the Red Sea coastline, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday. In a letter to shipping companies, the group warned it would attack any vessel loading or unloading Saudi crude, opening a potential new front in the regional conflict that has spread across the Middle East since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28.

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US-Iran latest developments

The disruption comes as fighting between the United States and Iran continues to intensify. The US military said late Tuesday it had carried out strikes across Iran for an 11th consecutive night.

Residents in Tehran reported hearing explosions in the early hours of Wednesday as Iranian air defences were activated over the capital, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Explosions were also reported in the southeastern cities of Chabahar and Konarak, while Iran's official IRNA news agency said two blasts were heard in Bushehr, home to the country's only nuclear power plant.

Earlier, Iran targeted US military sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, while a tanker was reportedly hit in the Strait of Hormuz, another critical global energy chokepoint.

Iran also claimed it had struck infrastructure belonging to Amazon in Bahrain, where the US technology company operates a regional data centre. Amazon did not comment, and Reuters could not independently verify the claim.

The latest escalation has further threatened global energy supplies. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut by the conflict, Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its east-west pipeline to transport crude to Yanbu, allowing exports to bypass the Gulf through the Red Sea. The Houthi threat now places that alternative route at risk.

US President Donald Trump said the Houthis had not yet blocked the Bab el-Mandeb Strait but warned Washington was prepared to respond if they did.

"So far it hasn't happened," Trump said. "If something like that happens, we take care of it."

Trump also confirmed that 18 US service members have been killed since the conflict escalated, including four in recent Iranian attacks on American military bases in Jordan and Iraq. The war has faced growing domestic opposition in the United States amid rising global energy prices.

Oil markets reacted to the latest developments, with Brent crude rising more than 2% to trade above $91 a barrel, while US gasoline prices climbed back above $4 a gallon.