Houthis Capture Key Island and Tighten Grip on Red Sea Chokepoint

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are reported Friday to have completed their drive down the east coast of the Red Sea and reached an island in the center of the 16-mile-wide Bab al-Mandeb strait, threatening Saudi oil exports and giving Iran added leverage in future negotiations with the United States.With shipping through the Hormuz Strait disrupted by the Iran war, Saudi Arabia has relied on an alternative route by pipeline to the Red Sea to get more than 70 percent of its oil to markets, mainly in Asia. That route is now directly threatened.“Boats carrying armed Houthi fighters reached Mayyun Island after government forces withdrew from it yesterday,” the local government official told the French news agency AFP, using an alternative name for the island of Perim. “The Houthis have completed their takeover of the Bab al-Mandab area and Mayyun Island, which is located in the middle of the strait.”AFP quoted an eyewitness saying gunmen were “deploying along the Bab al-Mandab shore and are driving around in military vehicles.”Despite the risk, President Trump twice declined Saudi requests on Thursday to launch military strikes against the Houthis as they advanced toward the strait after capturing the strategic town of Mokha, some 45 miles north of the strait, Axios reported.“The United States is focused on protecting our core national security interests — such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea — while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges,” Axios cited an American official saying. “We are in continuous dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen Government regarding regional stability,” the official added.Despite the Red Sea threat, global oil prices dipped early Friday in response to unconfirmed reports that Iran and Oman were close to an agreement that would allow increased shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, though it is unclear whether the deal would involve tolls. A meeting between the two countries and their Gulf neighbors is scheduled for Monday in the Omani city of Salalah, the Financial Times reported.American officials report the United States Navy is escorting 30 to 40 ships a night through the Hormuz Strait, restoring non-Iranian oil flow to about two-thirds of pre-war levels. However a Houthi blockade of the Bab al-Mandeb would be a blow to Saudi Arabia, which has diverted most of its oil exports to a Red Sea port. Reuters reported Friday that satellite imagery showed smoke rising in the vicinity of the Saudi pipeline carrying that oil, though there was no confirmation of the cause.Reuters quoted Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources a day earlier saying the Houthi advance came with direct guidance from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who hope to open a new front in the war with America. Two Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran had promised the Houthis more funding, weapons and senior officers to help them in that effort.Axios quoted unidentified United States officials saying American military and civilian officials have told their Saudi counterparts that Mr. Trump has directed American forces to avoid opening another front and to remain focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.However Axios reported that the commander of the United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, rushed to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to discuss how to respond to the latest Houthi threat.The outlet said the United States has around 200 military personnel already in Saudi Arabia to provide “non-kinetic support.” CNN put the number of American military personnel in the country at more than 100 and said they are working out of a recently established joint forces command to provide intelligence on Houthi movements.The Houthis, a rebel group that captured much of Yemen in 2014, had largely ended their attacks on Red Sea shipping following a Gaza peace agreement on October 10, 2025, but resumed their assaults on Saudi shipping in July, reducing traffic through the Red Sea to between 35 and 40 percent of pre-crisis levels. The only alternative route is through the Suez Canal and around Africa.With a perch on Perim Island, the Houthis can tighten their grip, potentially driving world oil prices even higher. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called for any negotiated settlement with the United States to include Yemen, the Associated Press reported. It was the first time Iran has made an explicit reference to that front.

Houthis Capture Key Island and Tighten Grip on Red Sea Chokepoint

Houthis Capture Key Island and Tighten Grip on Red Sea Chokepoint

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