• Saudi Arabia has announced a military alliance with 14 countries to protect shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait.
• The alliance aims to safeguard freedom of navigation, international trade routes, and global energy supplies from attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen.
• Despite sharing security objectives with Saudi Arabia in the Iran conflict, Oman and the United Arab Emirates are not participating in the alliance.

Following attacks on its ships, Saudi Arabia has announced a military alliance to protect shipping in the Red Sea and around the vital Bab al-Mandab (Gate of Tears) Strait.

According to Saudi officials, the alliance includes 14 countries, among them the Gulf states of Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, as well as Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan.

The alliance aims to protect freedom of navigation and international trade routes and global energy supplies, the Saudi Defence Ministry announced on Thursday in Riyadh after a meeting on the alliance.

The announcement follows attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen against Saudi ships. The militia had already launched a series of attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea starting in 2023. In response, the EU-led Aspides mission and the US-led Prosperity Guardian operation were established to protect shipping.

"Maritime security is a shared responsibility," the ministry stated. This will be achieved through joint military operations, planning and exercises, and the exchange of intelligence. The alliance is, by its very nature, "purely defensive" and does not aim to attack any state, other alliance, or international organization.

United Arab Emirates and Oman not members

Due to the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia currently exports some of its oil to the Red Sea via a pipeline. However, renewed attacks by the Houthi rebels are making this export route less secure.

It is noteworthy that, according to the announcement, Oman and the United Arab Emirates are not participating, even though they share similar security objectives in the Iran conflict with Saudi Arabia.