There is no single, formally named Red Sea Defence Alliance. Four separate arrangements exist - CTF-153, EUNAVFOR Aspides, Operation Prosperity Guardian and th…
A 34-nation naval partnership stood up a dedicated Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden task force in April 2022 - over a year before the Houthi crisis began.
On November 19, 2023, Houthi forces seized this car carrier in the Red Sea, opening a maritime campaign against shipping that would run for years.
The US announced a multinational coalition on December 18, 2023, to escort commercial shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Europe launched its own defensive-only naval mission in February 2024, deliberately kept separate from the US-led coalition's command.
The September 2025 Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement became the template for the trilateral pact signed eleven months later in Mecca.
A US-brokered Gaza ceasefire in October 2025 led Houthi forces to pause large-scale attacks on shipping by mid-November.
February 28, 2026 strikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader and triggered a war that reshaped Gulf security calculations for months.
Iran's March 2026 attacks on Hormuz shipping led Saudi Arabia to invoke its pact with Pakistan for the first time.
On August 5, 2026, Houthi forces threatened Saudi oil tankers in the northern Red Sea, days before a new defence pact was signed.
The August 7, 2026 trilateral defence agreement has no Red Sea mandate - officials call it defensive, not a maritime alliance.
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