RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Vice Adm. Fahd al-Ghufaili, said on Sunday that threats to maritime waterways require an effective collective response, stressing that protecting international straits is a shared global responsibility.
Speaking at the Manama Dialogue security forum in Bahrain, al-Ghufaili warned that threats to maritime routes affect the interests of countries worldwide and have become an international challenge.
“Maritime security is not the responsibility of a single country, and force cannot be a substitute for law,” he said.
Al-Ghufaili also stressed that international straits should not be used as tools of political or military pressure.
His remarks come amid growing international concerns over threats to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb, as tensions persist across the Middle East.
The US-Iran conflict has severely disrupted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy supplies.
Meanwhile, fighting between Yemen’s internationally recognized government forces and the Iran-backed Houthi militia has intensified, with the militia threatening commercial shipping through Bab al-Mandeb, a strategic waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
