These were the eighth and ninth Saudi oil tankers targeted since the start of the blockadeYemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said on Wednesday that they attacked two Saudi oil tankers, as the rebels pressed on with their maritime blockade of the kingdom. These were the eighth and ninth Saudi oil tankers targeted since the start of the blockade last month, according to figures given by a Houthi military spokesman. The Houthis declared they will escalate attacks in the northern Red Sea because Saudi Arabia is diverting its oil tankers there from the south in response to their blockade. Saree said that the group’s blockade had pushed Saudi Arabia to divert “its oil tankers towards the northern Red Sea”. So the group will now “escalate in targeting Saudi oil tankers in the northern Red Sea to close all access points and prevent their passage”.