Yemen’s Houthis Release Seized South Korean, Saudi Ships

The Iran-backed Houthi movement released three ships and 16 crew members on Tuesday evening that were captured on Sunday, according to reports from the South Korean Foreign Ministry and a Houthi military source. Two of the vessels are South Korean and one is Saudi Arabia-flagged. They are expected to arrive at Saudi Arabia’s Jazan port on Friday. Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein al-Azzi said that an investigation showed that the ships had entered Yemeni waters due to bad weather and that they were released because of good relations between Seoul and Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital. Houthi forces have been driven away from most of Yemen’s coast by a Saudi-led coalition but hold the country’s biggest Red Sea port and the base of the group’s navy, at Hodeidah.