Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement seized full control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Friday after capturing Mayyun Island, also known as Perim, in the middle of the vital Red Sea waterway, government officials and eyewitnesses said.
A local official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government said forces loyal to Sanaa’s Saudi-backed authorities withdrew from the island a day earlier, allowing Houthi fighters to land and complete their hold on the strait. An eyewitness described armed men fanning out along the shoreline in military vehicles.
The advance capped an roughly week-long offensive that has reportedly killed hundreds and left the Houthis in command of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline. Officials said the group also took the towns of Dhubab and Murad on Friday, along with the historic port city of Mocha a day earlier. A Yemeni military official told reporters the Houthis additionally seized the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands, the last positions in the strait not previously under their control.
The Houthis, who held roughly a third of Yemeni territory before the offensive, have repeatedly attacked shipping in the strait, one of the world’s most heavily trafficked chokepoints connecting Asia to Europe via the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz together account for more than a quarter of the world’s seaborne crude and petroleum trade, and roughly a third of global container traffic moves through the Red Sea.
A Houthi spokesman said shipping through the strait would remain safe, while a separate spokesman said operations would continue until what the group calls the blockade of Yemen is lifted, an apparent reference to a naval blockade the Houthis declared against Saudi Arabia in July. Saudi officials said the fighting has separately forced the shutdown of a major oil pipeline, and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has urged Washington to consider military action against the group, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The escalation compounds pressure on global energy markets already strained since Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and Iranian officials have publicly welcomed the Houthi advance.
