Houthis say they will not target European shipping, FT reports
The pledge follows weeks of unconfirmed Houthi claims of strikes on Saudi Arabia that had pushed oil higher and drawn Western military attention to the region.
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Map: The Red Sea, marking Yanbu, Jizan
The Houthi movement has told the Financial Times it will not target European vessels in the Red Sea and nearby waters.
The pledge follows a series of claimed attacks on Saudi Arabia that Riyadh has not confirmed. The group said it struck Saudi Aramco facilities at Yanbu and military sites in Jazan.
The episode also drew in European diplomacy. President Macron has proposed a two-way halt to strikes on refineries and energy grids in the war in Ukraine, arguing that Russia treats Europe as Ukraine's strategic depth.
A pledge to spare European shipping, if it holds, narrows the conflict's geographic scope at a moment when escalation risk has already lifted oil prices and drawn Western military attention to the region. It would ease pressure on energy flows and remove one potential trigger for wider NATO involvement, taking some of the geopolitical premium out of crude.