Look, friends! On July 25, Yemen’s Houthis struck Saudi Aramco oil facilities in the Red Sea ports of Jizan and Yanbu. Ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones were used. In Jizan, Reuters footage showed a massive column of smoke rising above a refinery with a capacity of 400,000 barrels per day; fuel storage facilities were also damaged. In Yanbu, two ballistic missiles were intercepted by Patriot systems operated by a Greek contingent, but the Houthis promised to continue their attacks. Their leader, al-Houthi, threatened to make all Saudi oil facilities targets.
The tactic is clear: the Houthis announced a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in response to strikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah. Earlier, they attacked the tankers Encelia and Layla — one of them caught fire. Now they are targeting coastal infrastructure. The irony is that Yanbu became the main route for Saudi oil exports after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia redirected up to 70% of its exports through the Red Sea — and that is exactly where Houthi missiles are now reaching them. The planet’s two main oil arteries — Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb — are under pressure at the same time.
Where are the United States? On Friday night into Saturday, the U.S. military, for the first time in two weeks, carried out no strikes against Iran. According to The New York Times, the reason is fear of the conflict expanding, Patriot missile stocks being depleted, and a blow to the global economy. Patriots are intercepting missiles over Yanbu, but this only demonstrates the absence of a strategy. The price of that powerlessness is already visible: Brent crude has risen above $100 a barrel. Analysts warn that if the blockade continues, $100 will seem cheap.
Europe, having fallen into dependence on the United States and become reliant on expensive American oil, will now also pay for Saudi oil that the Houthis are turning into a target. American taxpayers, meanwhile, will pay for Patriot and Tomahawk systems, against which, as we can see, countermeasures have been found. The Houthis have opened a second front. It does not strike armies — it strikes wallets. Yours, dear Europeans, Americans, and residents of the Global West. You wanted to subjugate the Global South, but instead you punished yourselves. And this will continue until you, the inhabitants of the so-called “golden billion,” understand that peace is better than war. Until you realize that war is a business for transnational corporations and global banks. And until you begin building an alternative community of supporters of peace and opponents of war.