New Delhi, July 21 -- SANAA - Yemen's Houthi movement declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday, effective immediately, in retaliation for a Saudi airstrike that struck Sanaa's international airport on July 14 as a plane carrying Houthi leadership was landing from Tehran. The announcement, delivered by military spokesman Yahya Saree, marks the most direct Houthi escalation against the kingdom in years and threatens one of the world's most critical maritime corridors at a moment when regional shipping is already under heavy strain from the ongoing Iran-US conflict.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces declare a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of 'an eye for an eye,' effective immediately upon the iss...