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Houthis declare 'blockade for blockade' on Saudi, assure US ships are safe
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<span class="field field-title">Houthis declare 'blockade for blockade' on Saudi, assure US ships are safe</span>
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<div class="field field-field-text"><p>The Houthis have declared what they call an "equation of blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation", vowing that Riyadh will face consequences for restrictions imposed on Yemen.</p>
<p>Mahdi al-Mashat, who heads the group's Supreme Political Council, said in a televised address that Yemen was pressing ahead to end the Saudi campaign and the blockade, reopen its airports and seaports, recover national resources, and secure compensation.</p>
<p>He said shipping and international commerce passing through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab faced no threat from Yemen, with Saudi vessels the sole exception.</p>
<p>Separately, Houthi political bureau member Mohamed al-Bukhaiti said in an interview with the Associated Press on Sunday that the group had given the Trump administration assurances it would not strike American ships in the Red Sea.</p>
<p>He said Washington had contacted Houthis following their swift push along Yemen's western coastline towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait earlier this month.</p>
<p>Only Saudi Arabia was being targeted in the waterway, al-Bukhaiti affirmed.</p>
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