Between the Jaws of Bab Al-Mandeb and the Horn of Africa: The Red Sea Deepens the Saudi Predicament

The security fragility in the Horn of Africa countries represents the biggest nightmare for Riyadh, as it realizes that the naval blockade on the eastern bank of Bab Al-Mandeb will turn into a comprehensive encirclement if it meets with the chaos in Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

Follow-ups – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:

This scenario places the western Saudi ports (such as Jeddah and Yanbu) and the oil export arteries within the range of a permanent strategic danger and record increases in insurance costs.

To avoid this, the Kingdom is engaged in a diplomatic and security race to prevent the African coasts extending from Djibouti and Eritrea from turning into a logistical depth for its competitors or open smuggling zones, intensifying its moves to prevent inter-conflicts—such as the tension between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu—from paralyzing shipping movement and closing the waterway to its exports.

Riyadh is accelerating through the “Council of Red Sea Coastal States” and naval alliances to link the security of the African bank to the Saudi security system. However, the complexities of African crises and the weak defense infrastructure of those countries keep these efforts as merely an attempt to race against time to avoid the completion of the circle of economic and maritime strangulation.