Saudis form military alliance to protect Red Sea shipping

By VIVIAN NEREIM, MAX BEARAK and CAROLINE HOUCK

Saudi Arabia said Thursday it was forming a military coalition to protect shipping, as attacks in the Red Sea and the renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran further rattle the global economy.

Fourteen countries affirmed their support for the new maritime coalition, the Saudi Defense Ministry said in a statement. It remains unclear how the coalition will operate, and which ships or aircraft participating countries would contribute.

The new initiative comes as the Houthis, an Iranian-backed Yemeni militia, have targeted Saudi vessels in the Red Sea, which has became a vital route for oil exports during the war.

The attacks on shipping also expanded this week to another front: Egypt.

For the first time since the war began in February, the authorities in Egypt said Thursday that an unidentified drone had caused an explosion at the Mediterranean port of Damietta the previous day. Earlier, Saudi Arabia also acknowledged direct involvement in the war for the first time, after conducting joint strikes with U.S. forces on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on Wednesday.

As the scope of the fighting widened, U.S. Central Command said Thursday morning that it had completed another wave of strikes on sites in Iran, including military command centers and missile and drone facilities. The Jordanian military later said it had shot down five missiles launched from Iran, though Iranian officials did not publicly take responsibility for the attack.

Central Command said its latest strikes were a response to Iran launching ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in the Middle East on Wednesday.

The fighting this week ended a pause in direct attacks between the United States and Iran and has affected an expanding list of U.S. allies, among them Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and, now, Egypt.

The attack in Egypt ignited a fire on two ships, including a U.S.-owned gas storage tanker, and threatened to draw Cairo into the conflict. On Thursday, the authorities there said they would take “necessary measures to protect Egypt’s interests and national security.”

At a news conference at the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Donald Trump implied that Iran was responsible for the attack in Egypt, without offering details.

While the fighting between the United States and Iran expanded beyond efforts to control the Strait of Hormuz, ships trying to pass through the narrow waterway still faced significant risks.

Months of threats and attacks on shipping have throttled oil exports from Persian Gulf states. Saudi Arabia’s economy had shrunk in the last quarter 4.8%, the worst quarterly contraction since the COVID-19 pandemic, the kingdom said Thursday. In the United States, growth slowed down to 1.5% in the second quarter as the war upended prices and supply chains.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

— Iraqi militias: Iran-aligned militias in Iraq were under growing pressure to disarm, but the U.S.-Saudi strikes may embolden them to get more deeply involved in the war.

— Suez Canal: The attack on the Egyptian port Wednesday did not appear to disrupt traffic to the Suez Canal. But analysts said it demonstrated the important waterway’s vulnerability and showed how the widening conflict in the Middle East could further disrupt global trade.