The Red Sea Security Coalition: A Saudi Initiative

Saudi Arabia and 13 partner countries have announced the establishment of the Red Sea Maritime Defense Coalition. The initiative aims to ensure uninterrupted maritime traffic in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

Simon Westwood

The unprovoked American and Israeli aggression against Iran on February 28, 2026, killed its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and its top leadership, which has jolted the entire world. The United States and Israel did not just attack Iran, but indeed they attacked an innocent member of the free world and an important pillar of the multipolar world. It is to be noted here that Iran is the member of the BRICS coalition that simply aims to save the world from the evil clutches of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is the basic sin committed by the Iranian regime that it has openly defied to bow down to the West and to accept the American hegemony. For this sole crime, the Iranian people have been suffering death and destruction for the past five months or so.

The US and NATO allies want to divide and rule the Middle East by sowing the seeds of hatred and mistrust among the Middle Eastern nations

The Iranian retaliation against the United States and Israel, along with the US military bases in the Middle East, has attested that the world is multipolar and the US can no longer pick and choose to destroy nations and states as the US and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and many other nations. Iran’s moral and psychological strength to fight the US and Israel comes from its membership in the BRICS organization.

The US and Israeli attack has severely affected the lives of the people around the globe. But these illegal attacks against Iran have awoken the new pillars of the multipolar world, which are now offering resistance to the Western-led world order.

The Houthis of Yemen

The Houthis of Yemen are native people of Yemen, and they only want to safeguard their territory and prevent its capture by the Western imperial powers. The Yemeni Houthis are a reality, and attempts to suppress their voices should be avoided. It is true that Houthis are backed by Iran, but it is also true that Houthis are preventing Yemen from becoming another US military base.

Why Saudi Arabia has established the Maritime Defence Coalition for the Red Sea Region

Saudi Arabia is a responsible player in the Gulf region, and like any other nation, it intends to protect its national interests. It has good foreign relations with Russia as well as China and is also a member of the BRICS organization. And, China brokered a diplomatic deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to have diplomatic ties in March 2023. But the problem is that the US has had its military bases in Saudi Arabia since the days of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm during 1991-92. These military bases in Saudi Arabia are causing anxiety among the people of the free world, including Iran and its allies.

The Houthis have time and again demanded that Saudi Arabia abandon the US and ask them to leave the Saudi territory. However, the Saudi leadership has allowed the Americans to stay on its soil and have military presence. Though, Saudi Arabia forbade the US to use its soil to launch attacks against Iran.

The Saudi leadership believes that the Red Sea region and the Bab el Mandeb strait should remain fully functional for large international vessels. And, for that purpose, it invited 41 nations to join the Maritime Defence Coalition for the Red Sea region. So far, a total of 14 nations have agreed to become a part of the coalition. It was reported that “Pakistan, Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt” Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, and Bangladesh are among the signatories and will actively take part in the coalition, but Oman and the United Arab Emirates did not sign.

Conclusion

In the multipolar world, the nations of the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, must realise that the main problem behind the confrontation and hostile relations in the region is the US and Israel and the presence of huge US military bases. These military bases are always busy conducting clandestine and secret military operations against the regional countries so that they maintain mutually hostile relations. For instance, the drone attack on Damietta Port of Egypt on 29 July 2026, was denied by the Yemeni Houthis, and it could have been done by the US or Israel. It is very strange that the European Union’s Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) ASPIDES is also posted in the Red Sea since 19 February 2024 with the same mission to ensure the safety of civilian vessels. In other words, the US and NATO allies want to divide and rule the Middle East by sowing the seeds of hatred and mistrust among the Middle Eastern nations.

The Saudi-led Maritime Defence Coalition for the Red Sea region should also include Iran for confidence building, and it should also invite Russia, China, India, and others to take an active part in monitoring the free flow of civilian vessels from the Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb strait.

If the Saudi military attacks Houthis or the Houthis attack Saudi infrastructure, in both cases the innocent people of the Middle East will perish, and ultimately the US, NATO, and Israel would be the primary beneficiaries of such attacks.

Simon Westwood is a master’s student at Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland. He is also a Research Assistant at DCU’s Department of History