Saudi Arabia names commander for multinational maritime defence coalition securing Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defence said on Thursday, August 6, 2026 (15 Mordad 1405), that Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Salem Al Shehri has been appointed commander of the Multinational Maritime Defence Coalition, a week after the alliance was established. The coalition, announced on July 30 (9 Mordad) by Bahrain, Bangladesh, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and Yemen, aims to secure freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. According to the Saudi statement, Al Shehri will coordinate joint naval defence among member states and with other maritime coalitions, and additional countries are completing procedures to join. The coalition will hold a meeting on August 12 to 13 (22 to 23 Mordad) to finalise its institutional framework. Al Jazeera reported that the move comes as the US Israel war on Iran has become focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carried about 20 percent of global oil and gas supplies before the conflict and whose effective closure is now weighing heavily on the global economy.