US embassy refutes Houthis’ Yemen blockade claims, highlights siege on Taiz

The US Embassy in Yemen has pushed back against Houthi claims that a Saudi-led blockade is restricting access to the country.

Khaled Wolfsberg, spokesperson for the US Embassy in Yemen, released an Arabic-language video on the mission’s official Instagram account on Tuesday evening, arguing that goods are still flowing into areas of Yemen under Houthi control.

The Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), captured the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014. They have since seized large parts of western and northern Yemen. An offensive on coastal areas in September this year saw the Iranian-backed rebel group take the port city of Mocha.

Wolfsberg presented operational figures showing that 272 commercial ships successfully unloaded their cargo at the ports of Hodeidah, as-Salif, and Ras Isa – all under Houthi control – between January and September 2026.

That data, he argued, directly counters the Houthi narrative that Saudi Arabia and its allies have enacted a full-scale siege of Yemen’s Red Sea ports, preventing aid from reaching civilians.

Competing narratives

Tawfik al-Hamidi, a political analyst and president of the SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, noted the significance of these figures. “The United Nations mechanism data, which documented the entry of 272 commercial ships and the unloading of millions of tonnes of commodities in the ports of Hodeidah and al-Salif, reveals a contradiction [in what the Houthis are saying],” al-Hamidi said.

“The ‘maritime blockade’ discourse is used by the Houthi group to manufacture a political grievance internally and externally that portrays the Houthis as victims of a blockade, and through that it garners international – especially popular – sympathy,” al-Hamidi said. “It also diverts attention within Houthi-controlled areas from the group’s responsibilities as the de facto authority, including managing the economy, meeting people’s basic needs, paying salaries, and creating job opportunities.”

Offering a starkly different perspective, Yemeni journalist and writer Hussain Albukhaiti explained how the restrictions are viewed by the Houthi authorities in Sanaa.

“No one said that the Hodeidah port is closed,” Albukhaiti argued.

Instead, he pointed to severe inspection bottlenecks. “There are obstacles that are imposed and delay the ships until they are sometimes forced to [wait for up to] four months,” Albukhaiti highlighted.

He also argued that restrictions on container shipments to Hodeidah port have driven up transport costs, as goods are instead routed through Aden in the south, before reaching the densely populated northwestern regions of Yemen under Houthi control.

The US claims do align with operational analyses released by the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen, which monitors and facilitates commercial shipping to the region.

Throughout the first nine months of 2026, the UN mechanism regularly cleared dozens of vessels each month to sail to the Houthi-controlled ports.

The UN data confirms that 272 vessels sailed to these ports during this period. The maritime traffic peaked in January and March, with 34 vessels sailing each month. Even during slower periods, such as July, 25 vessels successfully made the journey.

These ships delivered millions of tonnes of essential cargo, primarily food. March recorded the highest volume of food deliveries, with more than 737,000 tonnes discharged. January also saw significant deliveries, with nearly 630,000 tonnes of food reaching the ports.

More recent data from August and September show continued food deliveries of more than 511,000 tonnes and 495,000 tonnes, respectively.

Alongside bulk shipments, containerised cargo continued to arrive at Hodeidah this year.

In January, four container vessels discharged 1,231 containers, followed by three container vessels unloading 851 containers in March. Another three vessels discharged 1,268 containers in April.

While container traffic fluctuated later in the year, particularly after the most recent bout of fighting, September still saw one container vessel discharging 182 containers.

Fuel and other cargo also reached the ports throughout the year, although in varying quantities. For instance, February saw more than 149,000 tonnes of fuel discharged, while September recorded no fuel deliveries but maintained high volumes of food and other goods.

The Houthi argument, however, is that the whole UN inspection mechanism in itself is illegitimate.

“All these mechanisms or inspection mechanisms are imposed by Saudi Arabia and with American support and European support,” Albukhaiti said.

The Houthis did agree to enhanced monitoring under the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen as part of the 2018 Stockholm Agreement.

Taiz dispute

Despite the maritime data, the UN has warned that recent fighting has worsened the humanitarian situation in Yemen, including in the besieged city of Taiz, which is under government control but fully surrounded by the Houthis.

In the US embassy video, Wolfsberg accused the Houthis of blocking food and fuel from reaching hospitals and water stations in Taiz. He described the conditions faced by Taiz residents as a genuine siege, shifting the blame for localised shortages onto the Houthi forces encircling the area.

“The only real blockade is the one cruelly imposed by the militia on Taiz by preventing the entry of food and essential supplies for citizens,” Wolfsberg said.

Al-Hamidi argued this was a deliberate Houthi strategy. “This is an entrenched behaviour in a group that has made siege a tool to subjugate its opponents and entire communities,” he explained. “The Houthis complain of a maritime blockade that ship entry data denies, but it imposes a tangible siege on the residents of Taiz, the effects of which appear in the lives of civilians, patients, and health facilities.”

Albukhaiti outright rejected the accusation. “There is no blockade at all on Taiz,” he stated, claiming that food and commodities enter the city continuously, and attributing any local shortages to armed gangs operating inside Taiz.