Iran Pushes Houthis to Impose Fees on Ships in the Red Sea
The move aims to normalize the practice of imposing fees on international waterways and increase pressure on the United States.
Yemen’s Houthi movement is considering imposing fees on commercial vessels sailing through the southern Red Sea, a week after announcing a naval blockade targeting Saudi Arabia. The move would open a new front against the United States and its allies amid the war involving Iran, while broadening the scope of attacks against vessels carrying global energy supplies and other cargoes to and from the Gulf.
Regional sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that no timeline had yet been set for implementation. Two regional officials briefed by Tehran on the details said the plan was discussed in July, when Houthi officials traveled to Iran to attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to the two sources, the objectives of the initiative include normalizing the practice of imposing fees on international waterways and increasing pressure on the United States. They added that Chinese vessels would be exempt from the fees and that the Houthis had expressed support for the arrangement.
China has held direct talks with the Houthis to allow its tankers to sail through the southern Red Sea without coming under attack. China is also the world’s largest buyer of Saudi oil.
Iranian advisers are involved in drafting the fee-collection plan. An Arab official said that the Houthi officials who returned from Tehran by plane were accompanied by Iranian advisers who were on the ground to provide guidance on establishing a potential authority responsible for regulating fees on maritime traffic passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Afrah al-Zouba, the acting foreign minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, said the Houthis would seek to expand their influence in the Red Sea and would attempt to impose fees on vessels if they were able to do so.
Two Western diplomats said such a move would face strong opposition from Gulf countries and European states. However, they noted that overstretched international naval forces are currently unable to provide adequate protection for commercial vessels, while the political will to do so appears limited.
A senior Iranian official said on Wednesday that Tehran had rejected a proposal from Oman for joint regional management of the Strait of Hormuz, dashing hopes of resolving the impasse that has disrupted trade in the Gulf for months.
Saudi Arabia faces a threat to its oil supplies, as any closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would deprive the kingdom of a vital alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, increasing concerns over potential shortages in oil supplies.
Shipping traffic in the Red Sea has not fully returned to normal since the Houthis began attacking vessels off the Yemeni coast in November 2023, in what the group said was an effort to support Palestinians during the war in Gaza.
The Houthis halted attacks on commercial vessels only after a ceasefire was reached in Gaza last October.
At least one Saudi oil tanker was attacked last week near the port of Jizan in southern Saudi Arabia, close to the Yemeni border. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack.
It had previously been reported that the Houthis collected fees from some shipping companies operating vessels through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the height of their maritime campaign in 2024, in exchange for safe passage. The allegation was included in a 2024 report by a United Nations panel of experts, which noted that it had been unable to independently verify the information.
The fees were estimated at around $180 million per month, although those details have not been independently verified.
The journey through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Asia takes an average of 16 days, compared with approximately 50 days when vessels are forced to reroute through the northern Red Sea, pass through the Suez Canal, and then sail around the southern tip of Africa.
