Saudi Arabia and 13 other nations have approved the creation of a multinational maritime defense alliance, with Saudi Arabia as its founding leader and permanent headquarters, to protect shipping routes in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.
The founding members approved the establishment on Thursday, responding to what they called growing threats to global maritime security that endanger freedom of navigation, international trade, and global energy supplies. The alliance is being formed amid heightened attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the region, which have raised tensions.
The alliance will operate in line with international law and United Nations conventions. Its principal bodies—a Joint Command, command-and-control centers, a Joint Maritime Operations Center, and a General Secretariat—will be based in Saudi Arabia. Members agreed to deepen cooperation in intelligence sharing, operational planning, joint exercises, training, capacity building, and joint naval operations.
The 14 founding countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Djibouti, and Somalia. They endorsed the alliance and its founding arrangements on Thursday. Other nations have expressed interest and are completing domestic procedures to join.
The alliance stressed it is purely defensive, not aimed at any country, alliance, or international organization. Participation in its activities will be a sovereign decision for each member, and all operations will respect state sovereignty and the freedom of navigation. The founders invited additional countries that share its objectives to join, saying broader participation would strengthen collective maritime security.
The statement described the alliance as a strategic step to enhance maritime security, deepen defense cooperation, and support regional and global stability.