Yemen’s Houthis Say They Will Target Major US Oil Exporters in Nearby Seas

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Yemen’s Houthis will target U.S. oil majors including Exxon Mobil and Chevron despite an earlier truce agreed with President Donald Trump’s administration to not attack U.S.-linked ships sailing in the Red Sea and the wider Gulf of Aden, the Iran-backed militia said on Tuesday.

The Sanaa-based Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), which liaises between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators and is associated with the Houthi military, sanctioned 13 U.S. companies, nine executives and two vessels.

Entities designated by the Houthis “shall be dealt with in accordance with the principle of confrontation,” HOCC said on its website of what it will do regarding those deemed with being under their sanctions.

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The announcement is a notice that the companies, which also include ConocoPhillips and Diamond S Shipping, are deemed hostile entities that are open to attack.

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The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Houthis since 2023 have launched numerous assaults on vessels in the Red Sea that they deem to be linked with Israel in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war on Gaza. This week, they attacked a Dutch cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, injuring two crew and leaving the ship ablaze and adrift.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Jonathan Saul in London; Editing by Leslie Adler)