Red Sea Redux: Saudis Call For 'Coalition Of The Willing' To Protect Shipping From Houthis

Here we go again... after months ago President Trump urgently pushed for an international naval alliance to 'open' the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war, which was met with at the time with a collective cold shoulder from European allies, the Saudis are newly pitching the same to open up the Bab al Mandab Strait.

"Saudi Arabia is seeking to build an international coalition to protect shipping in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks, say two people familiar with the deliberations," Reuters reports Wednesday.

"The composition of the coalition has yet to be finalized and remains under discussion with dozens of countries, the sources add," the report continues.

The conflict has just hit the first day of month six of a 'little excursion' what the White House all the way back in February and March insisted would be a swift, limited, and successful action.

Fast-forward and now a key American regional ally pleads for a new 'coalition of the willing' focused on safe Red Sea passage as the Houthis take shots at Saudi vessels.

But these calls are again likely to merely fall on deaf ears, given few countries will likely want to send their navies up against an entrenched Houthis movement in Yemen which hasn't yielded after well over a decade at war with the Saudis, Emirates, and Israelis.

Also, Washington's global allies have likely long ago lost confidence in American 'plans' for reopening Hormuz and bringing the Iran war to a close. They don't see an articulated exit strategy, but instead a continual escalation ladder broken up for brief pauses and talks which have obviously collapsed.

The fact that Riyadh is now scrambling to find safe passage through the Red Sea for its ships speaks to the widening scope of this war. We earlier featured analysis from former MI6 intelligence official Alastair Crooke, whose words are apt here:

By adopting such uncompromising Manichaean language, Trump effectively has severed himself from any prospective diplomatic solution. By widening the war (Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq) he has severely complicated any diplomatic track. All elements are interrelated, yet they also have separate agendas. Thus a solution involves a complex matrix of issues, rather than a binary dispute between the US and Iran alone. 

Likely Washington will jump on board these Saudi calls for international patrols in the Red Sea. But the US is unlikely to lead the way or even directly participate, given this was already tried before in the context of the Gaza war, when the Houthis previously imposed a naval blockade.

"Although the Iranian stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz is a key contributor to increasing prices, there is now a second pressure point – a new threat posed by Houthi rebels to shipping in the Red Sea." Read this excellent piece from Nathan L. Owen, Colonel, U.S. Air Force… pic.twitter.com/D93FIpB3S4

— VoteVets (@votevets) July 29, 2026

Despite many rounds of major US and Israeli bombing campaigns over Yemen, the Houthis maintained their ability to target ships in regional waters, and the most advanced militaries and navies in the world seem powerless.