The Tihamah attack deepens maritime risk around Yemen as Pakistan reports movement toward a US-Iran arrangement on Hormuz, leaving two chokepoints on different tracks.
Geopolitics··Evening
A deadly strike at Bab al-Mandeb
Yemen's Transport Ministry said the food-carrying cargo ship Tihamah was struck three times by ballistic missiles at Bab al-Mandeb and caught fire. The ministry put the death toll at 4, while Yemeni sources cited by Reuters gave a toll of 3; the Houthis did not claim the attack. The ministry also reported that another missile was fired while rescuers were trying to reach the crew, injuring a rescue worker. Pakistani and Indonesian sailors were said to be among the dead. Maritime sources cited by Insurance Journal said that, if confirmed, the deaths aboard the Egyptian-owned vessel would be the first fatalities caused by a Houthi shipping strike since the Iran war began on February 28. The British maritime agency UKMTO separately reported that another cargo vessel in the Red Sea was hit by an unidentified projectile on the same day, causing injuries. The differing casualty figures do not alter the gravity of the attack, but they leave the final toll explicitly unsettled across the reports.[1]
Yemen's government signals a response
The maritime strike came as Yemen's internationally recognised authorities adopted a harder public position on the direction of the conflict with the Houthis. Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, told ambassadors supporting the country's political process that the period of Houthi attacks without consequences had ended and that decisions on war and peace could no longer be left to the Houthis alone. His remarks followed an attack on the south-western port of Mokha. According to Anadolu Agency, at least 7 people were killed and about 35 wounded, while port infrastructure, a Saudi hospital and commercial vessels were damaged. Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera also reported the casualties. The conflict between government forces and the Iran-backed Houthis, who control Sanaa, has lasted for nearly 12 years. The erosion of the partial truce in place since April 2022 puts al-Alimi's statement in a broader contest over who determines escalation, rather than treating it only as a reaction to one attack.[2]
A mediation track at Hormuz
Farther east in the same regional maritime system, a different process is unfolding at the Strait of Hormuz. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg that Washington and Tehran were nearing an arrangement over the nearly closed waterway. His comments came while Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was holding talks in Tehran. A Pakistani government source told Anadolu Agency that Naqvi would present new proposals to Iran's leadership, without providing details. A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson also said Iran-Oman talks had reached an advanced stage on reopening the strait to some maritime shipping. The United States and Iran signed a memorandum on June 17, but negotiations later stalled over security guarantees and freedom of navigation. Taken together, the reports show casualties and retaliatory language dominating the Bab al-Mandeb picture while mediators seek a technical and political passage arrangement at Hormuz. The tracks do not point to the same outcome: one describes the immediate cost of escalation, while the other describes an effort to restore limited maritime traffic. No implementation timetable or technical detail has yet been announced.[3], [1]
