DOMINANT ANGLE
Kathmandu is measuring the Gulf crisis almost exclusively in terms of the barrel: the Nepalese press, which reprints Reuters dispatches, first retains the threat to 4% of the world's oil supply, more than the battle for the Bab el-Mandeb islands or diplomatic negotiations.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Thirteen civilians were injured Monday in Houthi strikes on the Khamis Mushait airbase, according to the Arab coalition led by Riyadh
- 02
A prolonged shutdown of the east-west Saudi oil pipeline, damaged Thursday by a strike attributed to pro-Iraqi militias, could cut up to 4% of the global oil supply, according to traders cited by Reuters
- 03
The Houthis have captured the Hanish islands, 160 kilometres north of Bab el-Mandeb, after already taking the port of Mokha and Mayyoun island
ANALYSIS
Katmandou, 16 September 2026. In the Nepalese press, which has no correspondent in the Gulf, the crisis is first read through the prism of the barrel. The Kathmandu Post, like The Rising Nepal, largely reprints Reuters dispatches, but the choice of headlines is revealing: "Houthis strike Saudi targets anew as talks over Strait of Hormuz stall" puts the threat to the global oil supply before the count of victims.
The reported facts are precise. On Monday, the Houthis fired "dozens of missiles and drones" at the Khamis Mushait airbase in southern Saudi Arabia, targeting hangars, radars, runways, and ammunition depots, in retaliation for Saudi strikes in Yemen. Riyadh has placed this city and three others in the south on alert, and the Arab coalition reports thirteen civilians injured. Nepalese newspapers note that these attacks come after an airstrike on Thursday put the 1,200-kilometer Saudi east-west oil pipeline, built in the 1980s to bypass the Ormuz Strait, out of service. Riyadh attributes it to pro-Iraqi militias supported by Iran. According to traders cited by Reuters, a prolonged shutdown of this pipeline could cut up to 4% of the global oil supply, while the Ormuz Strait remains largely blocked.
Katmandou also relays the Houthi advance on the Yemeni coast of the Red Sea: after taking the port of Mokha and the island of Mayyoun in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the rebels have taken the Hanish Islands, 160 kilometers to the north, strengthening their grip on a route that has become, according to Reuters, "even more crucial" since the partial blockade of Ormuz. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia issued expanded security alerts as far as Mecca and Jeddah, a first for the holy city since the start of the conflict; the authorities have not reported any projectiles hitting the ground.
The postponement, at Riyadh's request, of the meeting scheduled with Iran on navigation in the strait occupies only one line in the Nepalese accounts, almost all of which are focused on the consequences for oil markets and global freight rather than regional diplomacy or the fate of Yemeni civilians, themes that the local press leaves to international agencies.
